May 2, 2004

NORMAN, Okla. - With their win over Texas A&M in the championships match of the Big 12 Tournament, Baylor's men's team became the first Big 12 men's team win both the Big 12 regular season and tournament three times. Baylor downed Texas A&M 4-0 at the Headington Family Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Oklahoma. The Bears have now won 30 straight matches against Big 12 teams. They cruised through the tournament winning all three matches 4-0.

The second-ranked Baylor team extended its season record to 26-2 while the Aggies dropped to 21-8. The victory over the Aggies won Baylor an automatic berth into the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Tennis Championships bracket will be revealed on Wed., May 5. The women's bracket will be announced on ESPNews at 3:30 p.m. (Central) and the men's bracket will follow at 3:45 p.m. The team will meet at Damon's Restaurant in Waco to watch the selection show, the public is invited to attend.

Baylor got on the scoreboard in doubles when it took matches at courts two and three. Reiner Neurohr and Ivor Lovrak completed their match at No. 3 with an 8-5 win over Bryan Wooten and Brett Joelson. No. 25 Benjamin Becker and Matias Marin won their 14th consecutive match with an 8-5 victory at No. 2 over Zack Malmgren and Marvin Rolle. In the final game of the match, Becker was serving and down 15-30 when he delivered two straight service aces to go up 40-30. The Aggies then plowed a volley into the net to give the Bears the winning point.

Even though the Bears won the match 4-0, it was a hard-fought contest to the end. The quickest match was accomplished by Benedikt Dorsch when he downed Lester Cook at No. 1 in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2. From there it was fitting that the team's two seniors, Reiner Neurohr and Matias Marin, would close out the match for the Bears with wins. Neurohr, playing at No. 5, ran his win streak to seven matches with his victory over Brett Joelson, 6-3, 6-4. Marin raised his season record to 20-6 with a victory at No. 3 over Mohamed Dakki, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. The Aggies pushed the Bears to four three-set matches. Benjamin Becker and Marin each won first sets but dropped the second and Ivor Lovrak and Matija Zgaga both dropped first sets but rebounded to win the second. Lovrak had almost posted a victory when Marin completed his match. Lovrak was ahead 5-3 in the third set and was tied at 40 when Marin earned Baylor's final point.

Baylor faces another tough Big 12 match on Wed., April 7 when it hosts the Texas Longhorns at the Baylor Tennis Center at 6 p.m.

#2 Baylor 4, #22 Texas A&M 0

Singles
Order of finish: 1, 5, 3
1. #2 Benedikt Dorsch (BU) def. #13 Lester Cook (A&M) 6-1, 6-2
2. #15 Benjamin Becker (BU) vs. #30 Ante Matijevic (A&M) DNF
3. #106 Matias Marin (BU) def. Mohamed Dakki (A&M) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
4. Khaled El Dorry (A&M) vs. #123 Matija Zgaga (BU) DNF
5. Reiner Neurohr (BU) def. Brett Joelson (A&M) 6-3, 6-4
6. #119 Ivor Lovrak (BU) vs. Bryan Wooten (A&M) DNF

Doubles
Order of finish: 3, 2
1. #2 Cook/Matijevic (A&M) vs. #20 Dorsch/Zgaga (BU) DNF
2. #25 Becker/Marin (BU) def. Zack Malmgren/Marvin Rolle (A&M) 8-5
3. Lovrak/Neurohr (BU) def. Wooten/Joelson (A&M) 8-5