April 25, 2002

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Five Baylor tennis players were named All-Big 12 in singles and three doubles teams were honored also. Baylor made a strong showing in the awarding of position medals as well. The awards were announced at the annual Big 12 Tennis Banquet, held in conjunction with the Big 12 Tournament, hosted by Texas A&M.

Baylor's men's team claimed their Big 12 championship trophy at the banquet. The sixth-ranked Bears are 22-1 on the season and finished league play with a perfect 7-0 record. Freshman Benjamin Becker, sophomore Markus Hornung and junior Zoltan Papp all earned all-Big 12 honors in singles. Two doubles teams, Becker/Papp and Hornung/Nathan McGregor, earned all-Big 12 kudos as well. It was the first time in the program's history that two doubles teams were named all-Big 12.

The men's team dominated the position singles awards, sweeping the gold medals from No. 1 singles through No. 5 and the silver at No. 6. Earning gold medals for the Bears were: No. 1, Benjamin Becker; No. 2, Zoltan Papp; No. 3, Markus Hornung; No. 4, Matias Marin; No. 5, Reiner Neurohr. Baylor's Armando Carrascosa claimed the silver medal at No. 6 singles. In doubles Becker and Papp won the gold at No.2, while Marin and Neurohr were awarded the gold at No. 3.

For Baylor's women, senior Katja Kovac claimed her third straight all-Big 12 selection in both singles and doubles. Junior Vida Mulec teamed with Kovac to earn her second consecutive all-league doubles selection, she was named all-Big 12 in singles as well.

Five women's players earned position awards. Kovac was awarded the gold medal at No. 1 singles, she won the gold at No. 2 singles last season. Senior Frida Borjesson took the gold medal at No. 4 singles and freshman Daria Potapova earned silver at the No. 5 spot. In doubles Borjesson and freshman Patricia Graf were named winners of the silver medal at No. 2 doubles.

Matt Knoll's men's team, the tournament's top seeded team, will open action in the Big 12 tournament on Friday when they take on the No. 8 seeded Oklahoma Sooners at 10 a.m. Dave Luedtke's women's squad will play Oklahoma State, seeded fifth, at 1 p.m. on Friday. The Cowgirls defeated 12th seeded Missouri to advance to the quarterfinals to face Baylor, the tournament's No. 4 seed.