Men's Tennis To Begin NCAA Run with Tulane Rematch
5/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 10, 2001
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#29 Baylor (12-11, 6-2 Big 12) at NCAA First and Second Rounds
May 12-13, 2001, TCU, Fort Worth, Texas
The 29th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team earned its fourth-straight NCAA appearance and will head north to Fort Worth to the TCU campus for the first two rounds.
The Bears, a No. 2 seed in the Fort Worth Regional, will face 40th-ranked Tulane in the first round, Saturday at 2 p.m. Host TCU and UT-Arlington round out the four-team bracket and will play the first match Saturday at 10 a.m. The second round match will be played at noon Sunday. All matches will be played at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center.
Admission for the regional championships will be $5 for adults and $3 for children. Gates will open at 9 a.m. For more information on the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, including driving directions, go to http://www.tennis.tcu.edu.
Baylor vs. Possible Opponents
Tulane (15-8): Baylor beat the Green Wave earlier this season, 4-3 in New Orleans. The Bears squeaked out the doubles point, after losing at No. 1 doubles, Baylor took the No. 2 spot 8-6 and the No. 3 spot 9-7. In singles, the Green Wave won the first three matches to go up 3-1, but the Bears pulled out wins at the Nos. 2, 5 and 6 spots to claim the match win. Matias Marin clinched the match at No. 5.
The Bears are 3-1 against Tulane all-time. Tulane, which enters the tournament ranked 40th, is led in singles by 34th-ranked Michael Kogan and No. 94 Victor Romero and in doubles by the No. 12 team of Kogan and Mikko Viljanen.
TCU (20-3): In their only meeting this season, the Horned Frogs swept the Bears in Fort Worth, 7-0. Baylor took only one set all day from the Frogs as TCU swept both doubles and singles. Csongor Bibza was the only Bear to win a set, as he lost to then-No. 8 Esteban Carril, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Entering the NCAA Tournament, Carril is the top-ranked Frog at No. 10 nationally. Trace Fielding is ranked 43rd in singles, and the team of Fielding and Jimmy Haney is ranked 16th. TCU is the No. 4 team in the nation.
Baylor is 3-4 against TCU under head coach Matt Knoll. Two of those losses, however, came in the NCAA Tournament. The Horned Frogs bounced Baylor in the first round of the 1998 tournament (played in Austin) and in the round of 16 (Athens, Ga.) last season.
UT-Arlington (17-8): The Mavericks enter the NCAA Tournament after winning the Southland Conference Tournament. Baylor has not faced UTA since 1997, when the Bears won 5-2 in Waco.
(Facing) Simply the Best
Baylor faced 14 of the 64 teams selected for the 2001 NCAA Tournament, the Bears compiled a 5-10 record against those teams (Baylor played Texas twice).
The Bears played 12 teams this spring that qualified for the 2000 NCAA Tournament and nine teams that began the spring ranked among the top 25. That schedule easily ranks among the toughest in the nation.
Ten of the Bears' 11 losses this season have come against top-25 teams, five of those 10 came to top-10 squads. Baylor has only lost twice to a team not ranked among the top 25 since the start of the 1999 season. The Bears are 30-2 against unranked teams under head coach Matt Knoll.
Double(s) Trouble
Baylor is 11-1 this season when winning the doubles point, but the team is 1-10 when the opponent takes the first point. The Bears have swept doubles six times and won all six matches. The team's only loss after winning the first point came April 6 to Notre Dame (4-3).
Knoll-ing Right Along
Head coach Matt Knoll is 93-57 in his sixth season, 85-41 at Baylor (in his fifth season)... His 75th win at Baylor came on the road against Tulane (2/11)... Knoll was named to the Region VI Advisory Committee for the 2001 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships.
Double(s) Your Pleasure
The team of Reiner Neurohr and Mark Williams was selected as the No. 5 alternate for the NCAA Men's Tennis Doubles Tournament. Despite ranking no lower than 27th this season, the team was passed over for selection in the field of 32.
Williams and David Hodge represented the Bears in the doubles tournament in 2000, reaching the round of 16.
Williams Heads Straight to the Top
Senior Mark Williams tied the school record for career singles victories with his 94th career win April 27 against Colorado in the first round of the Big 12 Championships.
Williams also holds the Baylor career doubles wins record, he broke that mark during the fall and enters the NCAA Tournament with 94 victories.
Climbing the Ladder
Other current Baylor players making their way up the career leader charts:
* Csongor Bibza ranks fifth in school history in career singles wins (47) and is third in career doubles wins (73), six wins behind second-place David Hodge. His 26 doubles wins this year gives him the fourth-highest total in Baylor history.
* Cory Ross' 23 wins this season is the 10th highest single-season total in school history.
* Mark Williams has won 21 doubles matches this season, the 10th-best mark in program history.
A Little Home Cooking Goes A Long Way
Since moving to the Streich Courts for good prior to the 1996-1997 season, the Bears are 43-16 at home.
The Bears saw a 22-match home win streak come to an end with a 7-0 loss to then-No. 3 Duke (3/15). Before that, the Bears' last loss at home came April 17, 1998, when the Bears lost to Texas A&M in the final match of the regular season.
Between April 16, 1999, and March 10, 2001, the Baylor men's and women's tennis teams won a combined 34 straight matches at home (16 by the men, 18 by the women).
Big 12 = Big Success
Baylor has won 20 of its last 23 regular season matches against Big 12 opponents. The stretch includes a 13-match win streak, which ended March 23 at home against Kansas. Prior to that, the Bears' last defeat by a conference opponent was a a 4-3 loss April 22, 1999, on the road against then-No. 7 Texas.
Streaky
Zoltan Papp won his first five singles matches and his first six doubles matches of the spring after returning from injury. He then lost six consecutive singles matches, but has now won his last six matches.
Freshman Matias Marin won his first seven singles matches to begin his collegiate career before losing to Duke's Joel Spicher (3/15). The seven-match win streak is the team's longest this season.
The doubles team of Csongor Bibza and Cory Ross won five in a row, lost once, then won their next six in a row. The six-match win streak is the team's longest doubles streak this season.
Baylor in the Rankings
The Bears' No. 43 ranking (3/21) was the team's lowest at any point since Baylor entered the polls for the first time ever in December 1997 at No. 68.
The Baylor men's and women's tennis teams were both in the top 25 for 53 straight weeks, a streak which ended March 21 when the men fell to No. 43. The stretch began March 15, 2000, when the women moved up to No. 18.
Senior Mark Williams earned his first-ever career singles ranking in September (No. 68), and freshman Reiner Neurohr earned his first career singles ranking in December (No. 91).
The doubles team of Neurohr and Williams earned a ranking of No. 20 before even playing a match together. The pair moved as high as No. 4 in the nation(Dec. 2000).
Injury Troubles
The Bears lost 2000 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Zoltan Papp to an ACL tear suffered during the summer which forced him to miss the entire fall season... Senior Mark Williams suffered an abdominal injury against Mississippi State (1/27) which forced him to miss one match.
Honor Roll
The Baylor men earned two singles nominations and one doubles selection on the preseason all-Big 12 team. Senior all-American Mark Williams and 2000 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Zoltan Papp were named to the singles all-conference team, while the team of Williams and freshman Reiner Neurohr represented Baylor on the doubles listing.
Four current Bears were named to the Fall 2000 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll: Reiner Neurohr, Sean O'Connor, Cory Ross, and Mark Williams. Former Bears Pawel Gajdzik, David Hodge, Johann Jooste and Johannes Michalsky also made the list, which honors all varsity athletes who register a semester GPA of 3.0 or better.
Sophomore Zoltan Papp was honored as Big 12 Player of the Week for April 15-21 after compiling a perfect 3-0 record for the week in singles.
Senior Mark Williams and Baylor tennis alumnus Johannes Michalsky made the Academic All-Big 12 first team, former Baylor ace Johann Jooste was named to the second team. The honor was Williams' fourth academic all-Big 12 selection and the third time he has made the first team.
Senior Mark Williams was named All-Big 12 in singles, and the doubles team of Williams and freshman Reiner Neurohr was named all-conference in doubles.
The Baylor men earned four Big 12 position medals. Freshman Matias Marin earned the gold at No. 5 singles, while Zoltan Papp (No. 4 singles), Cory Ross (No. 6 singles) and Neurohr/Williams (No. 1 doubles) each earned silver medals.
Senior Mark Williams was the Region VI honoree for both the Arthur Ashe Award and the Rafael Osuna Award. Both awards honor the player who best represents sportsmanship and leadership.
Reiner Neurohr was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year as he stepped into the Baylor lineup at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles shortly after joining the Bears.
Bears Unveil New Tennis Facility
Baylor University unveiled the new Baylor Tennis Center on a prime-time stage April 26-29 as the Bears hosted the Big 12 Championships. The facility earned rave reviews from the league's coaches, who marveled at the latest addition to Baylor's athletic facilities.
The Baylor Tennis Center has six varsity courts plus a center court, which is flanked by two additional courts. Chairback seating for 1,268 tennis patrons overlook the main six courts, terraced berms at either end of the complex allow the facility to seat 1,500 fans at normal capacity, with room to add bleachers and increase seating to 4,500 when necessary.
A team clubhouse runs alongside the courts on the opposite side of the stands. When completed this summer, the building will house a pro shop, training rooms, meeting rooms, public and team locker rooms and coaches' offices. It will also include office space and locker rooms for the softball team.
In the near future, six indoor courts will be added behind the main grandstand.