Nov. 10, 2004

WACO, Texas - Men's tennis wrapped-up a five-tournament fall schedule last weekend at the ITA National Indoor Championships. Overall, the Bears were impressive, winning two singles titles and one doubles championship.

Matija Zgaga earned the first-tournament championship by winning the singles title at the Baylor Intercollegiate Sept. 24-26 in Waco. Zgaga started with eight-consecutive wins before facing defeat at the ITA Central Regional against No.112 Roger Gubser of Texas 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Freshman Lars Poerschke won the singles title at the ITA Central Regional in Austin Nov. 4-7. The tournament championship was the first of his career. Poerschke played strong going 13-4, including an upset victory over No. 18 Ken Skupski of LSU 6-4, 6-4.

Poerschke and Zgaga combined for the doubles title at the ITA Central Regional. It was the first tournament the duo played together, where they won five straight. The Baylor pair knocked off the 8th-ranked duo from TCU Rafael Abreu and Frabizio Sestini 8-3 to win the tournament. They finished with a 6-1 record.

Barry McLaren participated in four of the five tournaments in his first action back from surgery going 8-6. McLaren advanced to semifinals at the Baylor Intercollegiate before facing defeat.

Michal Kokta played in 11 matches this fall going 5-6. His best showing was Nov. 6 at the Tulane tournament when he advanced to the semifinal match. Kokta participated in doubles matches with both Zgaga and Poerschke. Each combination went 2-1, with best showings in quarterfinal matches.

The Bears start spring action at the Sherwood Classic in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Jan. 14-17. The spring schedule includes 13 home matches and 11 on the road. The Big 12 Tournament is scheduled for Apr. 29-May 1 in Austin. The NCAA Tournament begins May 13 with the championships in College Station starting May 21.