May 4, 2004
WACO, Texas -
Baylor men's tennis dominated Big 12 awards this season by capturing Coach, Player and Freshman of the Year honors as well as numerous all-Big 12 singles and doubles awards.
For the third straight season and fourth overall Matt Knoll has been named Big 12 Men's Coach of the Years. Knoll has guided his Bears to a No. 2 national ranking and a 26-2 record this season and won both the Big 12 regular season and Big 12 Tournament for the third consecutive year. Knoll also received coach of the year honors in 1998, 2002 and 2003.
Junior Benedikt Dorsch, after being named Big 12 Player of the Year in 2003, repeated as Big 12 Player of the Year this season. Dorsch, currently ranked No. 2 nationally, skated through Big 12 play with a 7-0 record. He is 31-6 overall, 21-5 in dual match play and has won nine straight matches.
Freshman Matija Zgaga shared Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors with Oklahoma State's Daniel Byrnes. Zgaga is the fifth consecutive Baylor player to earn Freshman of the Year kudos. Zgaga completed conference play with a 6-1 record in singles and teamed with Dorsch in doubles at No. 1. He is 28-6 on the season and 21-4 in dual matches.
Four Baylor players were named all-conference in singles and all three doubles tandems were named all-league. Juniors Benjamin Becker and Dorsch, senior Matias Marin and freshman Zgaga were named to the singles list. Becker made the team for the third time and Dorsch and Marin were repeats from 2003. In doubles, the 20th-ranked duo of Dorsch and Zgaga, 23rd-ranked Marin and Becker and the tandem of Ivor Lovrak and Reiner Neurohr were named all-league. Neurohr and Becker have received all-conference nods three times while Dorsch was named for the second time.
2004 All-Big 12 Conference Tennis Teams
Men's Singles
Benjamin Becker, Baylor, Jr., Orscholz, Germany
Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor, Jr., Welden, Germany
Matias Marin, Baylor, Sr., Rosario, Argentina
Matija Zgaga, Baylor, Fr., Maribor, Slovenia
Marek Velicka, Oklahoma, Fr., Prerov, Czech Republic
Mark Van Elden, Oklahoma State, Jr., Sydney, Australia
Antonio Ruiz, Texas, So., Monterrey, Mexico
Jose Zarhi, Texas, Sr., Santiago, Chile
Lester Cook, Texas A&M, Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.
Mohamed Dakki, Texas A&M, Sr., Paris, France
Ante Matijevic, Texas A&M, Jr., Split, Croatia
Jakob Paulsen, Texas Tech, Jr., Idestrup, Denmark
Men's Doubles
Becker-Marin, Baylor
Dorsch-Zgaga, Baylor
Ivor Lovrak (So., Zagreb, Croatia)- Reiner Neurohr (Sr., Worms, Germany), Baylor
Tommy Garrison (So., Enid, Okla.)-Velicka, Oklahoma
Ruiz-Zarhi, Texas
Cook-Matijevic, Texas A&M
