April 26, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Baylor men's tennis team posted a 4-1 victory over No. 11 Texas A&M in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo., on Saturday. The Bears, the Big 12 regular season champions and defending tournament champion, will face Oklahoma State who upset second-seeded Texas 4-2.

It didn't take Matt Knoll's squad long to earn the doubles points. Benedikt Dorsch and Reiner Neurohr, playing at No. 2, raced past Khaled El Dorry and Ryan Newport, 8-1. In similar style, Matias Marin and Ivor Lovrak defeated John Nallon and Matt Loucks at No. 3, 8-2.

Baylor freshman Ivor Lovrak's match at No. 6 singles didn't last much longer than his doubles match. He breezed past the Aggies' John Nallon 6-3, 6-1 to give the Bears their second point. At No. 1 singles, Texas A&M's Ryan Newport jumped out to a 5-1 first set lead over Benjamin Becker but Becker rallied and took the set 7-6 (2). Becker then rolled through the second set 6-2 to earn Baylor's third point. The Aggies won their only match of the day when Lester Cook defeated Benedikt Dorsch at the No. 2 spot, 7-6(3), 6-3. Matias Marin clinched the match for the Bears with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Khaled El Dorry at No. 4.

With the victory, Baylor raised their season record to 24-1 while Texas A&M falls to 21-9.

The Bears will play the winner of the Texas/Oklahoma State match which is being contested this afternoon. Baylor defeated both teams in league play. They posted a 7-0 win over Oklahoma State and a 6-1 victory over Texas in Austin.

#5 Baylor 4, #11 Texas A&M 1
Doubles
Order of finish: 2, 3
1. #29 Becker/Papp, BU vs. #8 Cook/Matijevic, TAMU DNF
2. #33 Dorsch/Neurohr, BU def. #46 El Dorry/Newport, TAMU 8-1
3. Marin/Lovrak, BU def. Nallon/Loucks, TAMU 8-2

Singles
Order of finish: 6, 1, 2, 4
1. #60 Benjamin Becker, BU def. #8 Ryan Newport, TAMU 7-6(2), 6-2
2. #39 Lester Cook, TAMU def. #2 Benedikt Dorsch, BU 7-6(3), 6-3
3. #51 Zoltan Papp, BU vs. #52 Ante Matijevic, TAMU DNF
4. #41 Matias Marin, BU def. Khaled El Dorry, TAMU 7-5, 6-2
5. Reiner Neurohr, BU vs. Matt Loucks, TAMU DNF
6. Ivor Lovrak, BU def. John Nallon, TAMU 6-3, 6-1