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April 24, 2002
WACO, Texas -
#6 Baylor (22-1)
at Big 12 Tournament - April 26-28 - College Station, Texas
Friday, April 26 - Baylor vs. Oklahoma - 10 a.m.
Baylor, currently ranked No. 6 nationally and boasting a 22-1 overall record and 7-0 Big 12 mark, will travel to College Station to compete in the Big 12 Tournament, hosted by Texas A&M. The Bears come into the tournament as the No. 1 seed after going through league play with a perfect 7-0 mark.
Competition begins on Friday, April 26 when the the Bears face the Oklahoma Sooners, seeded eighth, in the opening match of the Big 12 Tournament. If the Bears win that match, they would face the winner of the Oklahoma State/Texas Tech match. That match would be on Sat., April 27 at noon.
The Sooners come into the match with an overall record of 10-11 and were winless in Big 12 play at 0-7. The Bears, playing without Benjamin Becker, posted a 5-2 road victory over the Sooners on April 14.
Men's Bracket
Friday - April 26
10 a.m. - #1 Baylor vs. #8 Oklahoma
1 p.m. - #4 Oklahoma State vs. #5 Texas Tech
4 p.m. - #3 Texas A&M vs. #6 Colorado
7 p.m. - #2 Texas vs. #7 Nebraska
Sat., - April 27
Noon - Winner Baylor/Oklahoma vs. winner Oklahoma State/Texas Tech
3 p.m. - Winner Texas A&M/Colorado vs. winner Texas/Nebraska
Sunday, April 28
1 p.m. - Championship
The Bears
Matt Knoll's Bears have a 13-match winning streak going, equalling the school-record 13 straight wins set in 1999. Their lone loss of the season came at then-No. 9 Pepperdine, 5-2. Baylor achieved its highest team ranking of the season on April 24 when they moved up to No. 6 nationally.
The Bears come into the Texas A&M Tennis Center, also the site of the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Tennis Championships (May 18-27), with three players ranked nationally in singles and three doubles teams among the nation's best. In addition, two Bears are undefeated in Big 12 action. At No. 1 singles freshman Benjamin Becker is 6-0 and Zoltan Papp is 7-0 at the No. 2 slot.
In the national rankings for the Bears are freshman Benjamin Becker at No. 7, junior Zoltan Papp at No. 40 and sophomore Markus Hornung at No. 68. In doubles Hornung and Nathan McGregor rank highest for the Bears at No. 27, while Hornung and Reiner Neurohr are No. 40 and McGregor and Papp are No. 52.
Second Conference Championship
With their victory at the University of Oklahoma on Sunday, April 14, the Bears claimed their second Big 12 Championship in three years. They claimed sole possission of the title by defeating Texas A&M, 4-3, in College Station, and remaining undefeated in league play. Baylor also won the title in 2000 with a perfect 8-0 conference record.
Head Coach Matt Knoll
Head coach Matt Knoll is in his sixth season at the Bears' helm. He has a career record of 115-59 in seven seasons as a head coach and is 109-43 in his six years at Baylor. He has guided the Bears to two Big 12 championships (2000 & 2002) and was second last season. Under his guidance the Bears have made four straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
20-Win Seasons
At 22-1, the Bears have now posted the program's third 20-win season, all of which have come under head coach Matt Knoll. Knoll guided the Bears to their first-ever 20-win season in 1999 when they were 24-3 and finished second in the Big 12. In 2000 Baylor claimed the Big 12 Championship with a 23-6 record.
Bears on Fire
Junior Zoltan Papp, sophomore Matias Marin and freshman Benjamin Becker are three of the Bears' hottest player so far. In dual match competition, Papp, a native of Budapest, Hungary, is 19-1 in singles. He is 1-0 at No. 1 singles, 11-1 at No. 2 and 7-0 at No. 3 and is 34-8 on the season. In addition, Papp is victorious in 25 of his last 27 matches. He had an 11 match winning streak snapped against Kentucky but currently has won eight in a row. Marin, a native of Rosario, Argentina, is 20-3 in dual match competition. He had a seven match win streak halted against #4 Kentucky but has won 14 of his last 16 and 20 of his last 23 matches. Marin is 31-10 in singles on the season. After losing his first two dual matches, freshman Benjamin Becker has reeled off wins in 19 of his last 20 matches. His lone loss in that stretch came to Pepperdine's Al Garland, ranked No. 3 nationally. He recently defeated No. 5 Jesse Witten of Kentucky in straight sets, Duke's No. 14 Phillip King and No. 13 Jean Simon of Texas. The Orscholz, Germany native is 33-7 so far this season and has a 12-match winning streak going.
Baylor in the Rankings
According to the latest Omni Hotels Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings released Wed., April 24, the Baylor men's tennis team moved up one spot, to No. 6 from No. 7 in the country. The No. 6 ranking is Baylor's highest team ranking of the season. This is the program's sixth highest team ranking. They were ranked No. 3 in March 1999, No. 4 on successive weeks in April 2000 and No. 5 twice during the 2000 season (see sidebar on later page for complete Baylor Top 10 team national rankings). In the ITA Top 100 individual rankings released on April 24, three Bears received rankings. Freshman Benjamin Becker moved up a spot to No. 7, junior Zoltan Papp moved from No. 42 to No. 40 and newcomer Markus Hornung jumped 10 spots to No. 68. In doubles, three teams made the top 60 rankings. Hornung and Nathan McGregor dropped from No. 22 to No. 27, Hornung/Neurohr are No. 40 and McGregor/Papp are No. 52.
Protecting the Home Court
The Bears have won all 16 of their home matches this season. In fact, under head coach Matt Knoll the Bears are 59-16 when playing at home. These include matches at the Baylor Tennis Center, Streich Courts and various indoor courts.
Hornung Named Big 12 Player of the Week
Baylor sophomore ace Markus Hornung of Ludwigshafen, Germany, has been chosen as final Big Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week for matches played from Apr. 15-21, the conference office announced Tuesday.
Hornung scored the decisive singles point to help the Bears finish the 2002 campaign undefeated in conference dual match play with a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Texas A&M's Lester Cook and a 4-3 team win. That triumph also propelled Baylor to the Big 12 men's championship with a 7-0 league record. Hornung closed the regular season with a 31-9 record in singles and teamed with Nathan McGregor for a 11-3 record in No. 1 doubles.
Neurohr Earns Academic Honors
Sophomore Reiner Neurohr was named to the 2002 Academic All-Big 12 team. The marketing major earned first team honors. The academic all-league squad consists of 12 first team members with five on the second team. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.2 or better grade point average, while the second team are those who have a 3.0 to 3.19 GPA.
30 Match Winners
The Bears have four players with 30 or more victories under their belts this season. Zoltan Papp leads the way for the Bears with 34 matches, Benjamin Becker has 33 and Matias Marin and Markus Hornung each have 31. In dual match competition, Marin leads the way with 20 victories. He is followed closely by Benjamin Becker and Zoltan Papp's 19.
Doubles Streaks
The doubles duo of Zoltan Papp and Benjamin Becker has won 12 straight matches. They are undefeated in dual match competition at 12-0 and are a perfect 4-0 in Big 12 play.
Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament
The Bears are 7-5 in Big 12 Tournament play. They have reached the finals of the tournament twice (1999 & 2000) but were defeated both times.
Here's the Bears' Big 12 Tournament breakdown:
First round - 1-0
Quarterfinals - 4-1
Semifinals - 2-2
Finals - 0-2
1997 - 8th seed
1R - Def. #9 Nebraska, 4-0
QF - Lost to #1 Texas, 4-0
1998 - 4th seed
QF - Def. #5 Colorado, 4-2
SF - Lost to #1 Texas, 4-1
1999 - 2nd seed
QF - Def. #7 Oklahoma, 4-0
SF - Def. #6 Kansas, 4-0
F - Lost to #1 Texas, 4-0
2000 - 1st seed
QF - Def. #8 Colorado, 4-0
SF - Def. #4 Kansas, 4-0
F - Lost to #2 Texas A&M, 4-0
2001 - 2nd seed
QF - Def. #7 Colorado, 4-0
SF - Lost to #3 Texas 4-1
Baylor's Big 12 Honors
Player of the Year
1999-Johann Jooste
Freshman of the Year
2000-Zoltan Papp
2001-Reiner Nuerohr
Newcomer of the Year
1998-Pawel Gajdzik
1999-Jorge Aldrete
Coach of the Year
1998-Matt Knoll
All Confrence Teams
Singles
1997 - Johann Jooste
1998 - Pawel Gajdzik, Johann Jooste
1999 - Johann Jooste, Pawel Gajdzik, Jorge Aldrete
2000 - Johann Jooste, David Hodge, Zoltan Papp
2001 - Mark Williams
Doubles
1997 - David Hodge/Johann Jooste
1998 - David Hodge/Johann Jooste
1999 - David Hodge/Johann Jooste
2000 - David Hodge/Mark Williams
2001 - Mark Williams/Reiner Neurohr
