Men's Tennis Players Receive Conference, ITA Honors
5/7/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
May 7, 2001
WACO, Texas - A pair of Baylor men's tennis players earned recognition for their success so far this season as the Big 12 and the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) named their 2001 award winners.
The Big 12 Conference named freshman Reiner Neurohr the league's Men's Tennis Freshman of the Year. Neurohr has compiled an 18-21 record in singles playing primarily as Baylor's No. 2 player. He also stepped right into the top doubles spot in the lineup, where he and senior Mark Williams together have a 17-14 record and have ranked among the top 30 in the nation all season.
Neurohr is the second Bear in a row to earn Big 12 freshman of the year, Zoltan Papp won the award last season.
Williams earned a pair of honors himself, as ITA Region VI men's tennis coaches awarded him both the 2001 Arthur Ashe Award and the 2001 Rafael Osuna Award. Both awards honor leadership and sportsmanship among student-athletes in the region. Regional winners are automatically nominated for the national award.
"Mark exemplifies everything we're trying to do in this program," Baylor men's tennis coach Matt Knoll said. "He's an all-America athlete, and also one of the most outstanding students at this university. He's a first-class individual. It's a pleasure to see him honored by the ITA for his character. I really think that Mark is a tremendous candidate for the national award."
Williams, a four-year letterman for the Bears, is a four-time academic all-Big 12 selection. In each of the last three years, Williams has been named to the academic all-conference first team. In 2000, he became the program's third academic all-American.
Williams was also named the team's most valuable player last season and has twice been honored by the men's tennis team as the squad's student-athlete of the year. Williams has served as a member of the Student Athletic Advisory Committee for the past two years.
