April 27, 2003

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - It was fitting that senior team leader Zoltan Papp was the one to clinch the match for Baylor in the Bears' 4-0 victory over Oklahoma State in the championship of the Big 12 Tennis Tournament at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. The win gave Matt Knoll's Bears their second straight Big 12 regular season and tournament championships. Baylor becomes the first men's team to win back-to-back regular season and tournament titles.

Matias Marin and senior Mike Garcia, who was playing in place of Ivor Lovrak, jumped out to a 6-0 lead at No. 3 doubles before posting an 8-1 win. Not long after Marin and Garcia finished, Benedikt Dorsch and Reiner Neurohr closed out their match at No. 2 with an 8-4 win giving the Bears the doubles point.

Baylor jumped out to an early lead in singles, winning five of six first sets. Dorsch, Papp, Marin, Neurohr and Ivor Lovrak all won their first sets. From then on it was a race to see would finish first. Dorsch, playing at No.2 won that race, defeating OSU's Yevgen Bondarchuk, 6-4, 6-1. Next, Neurohr defeated Tomas Bohunicky at No. 5, 6-4, 6-1. Then the real race began. Papp and Marin were both serving match point but Papp got his winner off first, defeating Boris Kuharic 6-3, 6-0.

The Bears, ranked No. 5 nationally, raised their season record to 25-1. Their lone loss this season came at the hands of Illinois who is currently the nation's top-ranked team. They are 52-3 for 2002 and 2003 and have finished Big 12 play undefeated both seasons. In fact, since 1998 Baylor has posted a 35-5 Big 12 record.

Up next for the Bears is the NCAA Tournament where they will make their sixth straight appearance. The NCAA tennis selection show will be broadcast on ESPN News on Wed., April 30 at 3:30 p.m. (CST) for the women and the men will follow at 3:45 p.m. A 'watch party' is being arranged, watch the official Baylor athletic website, www.BaylorBears.com for details.

#5 Baylor 4, #33 Oklahoma State 0
Doubles
Order of finish: 2, 3
1. #29 Becker/Papp, BU vs. Van Elden/Jezek, OSU DNF
2. #33 Dorsch/Neurohr, BU def. Bondarchuk/Spousta, OSU 8-4
3. Marin/Garcia, BU def. Kuharic/Felipe Diaz, OSU 8-2

Singles
Order of finish: 2, 5, 3
1. #60 Benjamin Becker, BU vs. #80 Mark Van Elden, OSU DNF
2. #2 Benedikt Dorsch, BU def. Yevgen Bondarchuk, OSU 6-4, 6-1
3. #51 Zoltan Papp, BU def. Boris Kuharic, OSU 6-3, 6-0
4. #41 Matias Marin, BU vs. Jiri Jezek, OSU DNF
5. Reiner Neurohr, BU def. Tomas Bohunicky, OSU 6-4, 6-1
6. Ivor Lovrak, BU vs. Jiri Spousta, OSU DNF