Feb. 7, 2004
WACO, Texas - The 2nd-ranked Baylor men's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season when 6th-ranked Mississippi dealt the Bears a 4-3 loss in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.
Mississippi, the tournament's No. 7 seed, shocked the Bears by claiming the doubles point, winning matches at Nos. 1 and 2. Catalin Gard and Paul Ciorascu dropped Benedikt Dorsch and Reiner Neurohr, 8-4, and Claes Lindhold and Eric Claesson dealt Matija Zgaga and Ivor Lovrak a 9-7 loss. The Baylor tandem of Benjamin Becker and Matias Marin posted an 8-5 win over Juan Pablo Di Cesare and Frederik Aarum at the No. 3 spot.
The singles matches proved to be marathon battles as five of the six the contests were extended to three sets. Posting wins for the Bears were Dorsch, Zgaga and Lovrak. Dorsch, currently ranked No. 3 in the national rankings and playing at No. 1 for the Bears, raised his season record to 14-1 and 12-1 versus ranked players with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over the 20th-ranked Gard. Zgaga, a freshman playing at No. 4, posted the match's only two-set win when he defeated Di Cesare, 6-2, 6-2. Sophomore Ivor Lovrak claimed Baylor's third singles win by beating Aarum at the No. 5 spot, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2.
The Bears, the tournament's second seed, will now face 3rd-seeded Florida at 7 p.m. (CST) on Saturday, Feb. 7. Florida, ranked No. 3, was upset by 7th-ranked UCLA, 4-2, on Friday.
USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships
Quarterfinals - Feb. 6, 2004
#6 Mississippi 4 def. #2 Baylor 3
Doubles
1. Gard & Ciorascu (Miss.) def. Dorsch & Neurohr (Bay.) 8-4
2. Lindholm & Claesson (Miss.) def. Zgaga & Lovrak (Bay.) 9-7
3. Becker & Marin (Bay.) def. Di Cesare & Aarum (Miss.) 8-5
Singles
1. #3 Benedikt Dorsch (Bay.) def. #20 Catalin Gard (Miss.) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
2. #70 Paul Ciorascu (Miss.) def. #5 Benjamin Becker (Bay.) 7-6, 1-6, 6-4
3. #49 Claes Lindholm (Miss.) def. Matias Marin (Bay.) 2-6, 7-5, 6-1
4. #95 Matija Zgaga (Bay.) def. Juan Pablo Di Cesare (Miss.) 6-2, 6-2
5. #79 Ivor Lovrak (Bay.) def. Fredrik Aarum (Miss.) 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
6. Eric Claesson (Miss.) def. Reiner Neurohr (Bay.) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
