Jan. 23, 2004

WACO, Texas - Baylor men's tennis team begins its 2004 campaign with its highest ranking of No. 2 in the nation. The Bears are set to open up play with a two game home stand against No. 41 Mississippi State at 2 p.m. Saturday and against No. 75 UL-Lafayette at 2:30 p.m. Monday.

The Bears come into the match as the only team in the nation with two players ranked in the top five, No. 3 Benedikt Dorsch and No. 5 Benjamin Becker. However, Mississippi State's Romain Ambert is ranked at No. 4. Other ranked players for Baylor include Ivor Lovrak tied for No. 79 and Matija Zgaga tied for No. 95. UL - Lafayette's only ranked player is Evghennii Corduneanu at No. 88.

The tournament will be the first of the spring season for the Bears as a team. Becker, Reiner Neurohr and Matias Marin played in the Sherwood Oaks Collegiate Cup last weekend in Thousand Oaks, California, where Becker and Marin reached the semi-finals of doubles competition.

A live update of the matches can be found at www.baylorbears.com men's tennis section.

*If it is raining the matches will be moved to Ennis indoor stadium and live updates will not be available.