 | | Director of Tennis Operations Matt Knoll, will stop by for a live chat on Tuesday, June 8 at 11 a.m. CDT. |
Under head coach Matt Knoll, the Baylor men's tennis team has enjoyed a level of success in the national arena unlike anything the program had ever seen before. Under Knoll's guidance, Baylor is 161-36 in the last seven years, 146-27 over the past six seasons and 87-6 in the last three years. The 2004 campaign was the most successful in the program's history, even the most successful in all of Baylor athletics history. The Bears finished with a 32-2 record and captured the school's first-ever team national championship. The Bears also won their fourth Big 12 Championship and for the third consecutive season won both the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles. In addition to the team title, junior Benjamin Becker captured the NCAA singles crown and junior Benedikt Dorsch, the NCAA Tournament MVP, ended the season with the ITA's No. 1 ranking. Prior to his coaching days, Knoll enjoyed success as a player. He began his collegiate career at Kansas State, where he participated until the program was dropped. From there he transferred to Washburn University, where he finished his collegiate career by receiving Academic All-American honors and departmental honors. He was voted the team's Most Valuable Player. Knoll finished out his playing career by traveling on the Satellite Professional Tour. He graduated Cum Laude from Washburn University and went on to earn a Masters of Arts degree from Kansas. Knoll is a member of the ITA Rules Committee and is a USA Tennis High Performance Coach. Knoll resides in Waco with his wife, Greta, a Minnesota native and executive director of the Texas Tennis Hall of Fame. The couple are the parents of twin boys, Erik and Karch, born in February of 2003. |
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 |  | Matt Knoll: Good morning everyone, let's get started. |
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| a fan: Coach Knoll, congrats to you and your players. After having such a great year, do you have any specific improvements in mind for next year regarding practice, conditioning or schedule changes? Or do you think that this year has been close to perfect in this regard? |
| | Matt Knoll: We really haven't had a chance to sit down and evaluate our training program. We're not going to depart too much from what we did this year. I think there's always room for improvement and we wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to do better. We'll sit down with the staff this summer and decide what's best. We're going to maintain a hyper-competitive dual match schedule as we've done in the past. |
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| Csongor (Plano): Coach I guess you know who I am, and I don't really have a question (I know everything I need to know about Baylor Tennis), but I have to send you a loud SIC'EM, SIC'EM, SIC'EM-SIC'EM-SIK'EM. I am not only proud of of being a Baylor bear but proud of being an ex-Baylor Tennis player. Best of luck in the future See you soon |
| | Matt Knoll: Hi, Csongor. No one knows better than you that a championship like this doesn't happen overnight. It took eight years to do this. It doesn't come without all of the sacrifices that our players and former players put in. Everyone shares in this achievement. |
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| David (Arlington): Coach, who do you have coming in next year? Looks like you have to replace 2 departing seniors. |
| | Matt Knoll: We're not able to comment specifically on who we have coming in, but they are guys who are capable of helping us stay competitive. That said, they're not seniors and the experience that Matias and Reiner had was a big part of our success this year. |
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| Tom (Lubbock): Coach, congrats ! Just curious to hear your future plans? Do you have the desire to go into a down program and turn it into a national champion like you have done at Baylor? |
| | Matt Knoll: Thanks, Tom. While establishing the foundation and building the program at Baylor was very special, I would rather not go through that process again at another school. I am much more interested in continuing to establish a level of excellence with Baylor Tennis. My family and I are very happy here in Waco and there is a very special opportunity here. |
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| Scott (Garland): Congrats! I felt tremendous pride as a Bear the last couple of weeks. I felt great emotions watching the replay on ESPN2. Are we in danger of losing any underclassmen to the professional ranks? Who is likely to replace the outgoing seniors? |
| | Matt Knoll: As you may have heard both Bene and Benni are planning to take the fall off and both are expected to be back to play their senior seasons in the spring. There's no question they dream of pursuing professional tennis, but they also dream of getting their degrees. They are going to wait until this time next year to pursue careers in professional tennis. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Coach Knoll, Congrats on the national championship! When do you think the proposed indoor tennis facility will become a reality? Are there any concrete plans at this point as far as design and target dates? |
| | Matt Knoll: Thanks, Jim. Your question about facilities is a good one. There's no question that's the next step towards us establishing ourselves as one of the elite college tennis programs in the country. My hopes is that Baylor will try to build on the success that we've had and provide us with indoor facilities to go along with our outstanding outdoor facilities. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Coach, In your opinion, why are foreign players the hot button issue in the college game right now? |
| | Matt Knoll: Great question. I think as much as anything, change is difficult. The world is becoming a much smaller place. We see in politics and professional sports. We see it the most in the NBA, so many guys - Tim Duncan, Peja Stokavic and Dirk Nowitzki are three of the greatest players and none of them were born in the US. One of the reasons that I'm most proud to be an American is our county rewards people who work hard and strive to be the best regardless of their race or nationality. I'm very proud that Baylor's mission includes diversity and excellence. |
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| Jim (Dallas): I know that NCAA rules probably prohibit you from discussing individual incoming recruits, but can you discuss the overall quality of your incoming class? |
| | Matt Knoll: You're right about me not being able to comment on specific recruits. I can say that they're both great students, they're top-rannked junior players and they are both committed to the team concept, which has been one of the keys to building our program. |
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| Jim (Dallas): What kind of things did you say to your guys before the championship match against UCLA? What was the mindset of the team...confident since you had beaten them earlier in the year? A little nervous since we'd never made it this far before? I'd just like a little insight as to what was going on during the timeframe leading up to the finals. Thanks! |
| | Matt Knoll: You know, Jim, there wasn't any kind of Knute Rockne-type speech. You do most of your coaching leading up to the championship. The guys know what's at stake, they don't need me to stand up in front of them and remind them of that. The things we needed to focus on was what we could control and trying to execute our game plan for each individual. I believe when you allow an athlete to play on instinct you give them the best opportunity to perform at the highest level. This team had a clear picture of what they wanted to accomplish from the outset and that made it easier as we moved through the tournament. |
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| Bruce, Bruceville: I see where Benedikt Dorsch has been named ITA Player of the Year on the men's side. Congrats to Baylor tennis for another outstanding accomplishment. Keep up to good work. |
| | Matt Knoll: I just found out myself. He's clearly very deserving and I can tell you that no athlete in the country in any sport works harder than Benedikt Dorsch. |
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| Jacqui-McGregor: Matt, I know that this year you had very different work ethics for the team compared to last year. Did you learn from the changes? Would you do anything different? Next year, we want a REPEAT. It has been so great to follow the team since moving back to Waco, 7 years ago with my husband Terry and daughter Alexandria. It has been a great and memorable experience for us. Thanks for letting us be a part of it. You have a great program, an unbelievable group of guys and a wonderful family. Sic 'em |
| | Matt Knoll: Thanks, Jacqui. We certainly couldn't have done it without people like you and your family. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your friendship and how much you've done to support the program. We're very satisfied with the way our training went this season and we're going to work hard to find ways to make it even better for next season. |
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| Rafael(Miami): Coach Knoll,I don't know if you remember me...I was one of the twins that used to attend all the men's and women's tennis matches when Johann, David, Jahnavi, and Katja used to play. I just wanted to congratulate you and the team for a great season and for bringing the first NCAA championship to Baylor. I still keep up with the team's results over the internet and went to see the girl's team play the University of Miami when they came to south Florida. It was great to see the guys finish off the season in such a great note. Congratulations once again. |
| | Matt Knoll: Of course I remember you. Thanks for your support of the program. Having people like you behind us is really important to all of us and are thankful for your passion and continuing support. |
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| Jim (Dallas): Another facilities question...it seems like the City of Waco is further along in its plan to build an indoor tennis center than we are. If theirs is completed before ours, are there plans to work out an arrangement with them so Baylor Tennis can utilize their facility during inclement weather, so you don't have to drive to Ennis for matches? |
| | Matt Knoll: While Ennis has done a lot to make us feel welcome. Nothing would make me happier than to begin a new chapter relative to our indoor backup situation. We've been forced to play some important home matches an hour-and-a-half away from our campus. There's no question we would benefit from having some indoor courts here in town. That said, I can't really comment on how things are progressing on the City of Waco's plans for an indoor tennis center. I can say that everything Alan and Donna Samuels have done for tennis in Central Texas is inspirational. |
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| David (Waco): First - Let me say how impressed I was with our TEAM on ESPN. They are GREAT for college tennis...true superstars. Secondly - Please speak as candidly as you can about other coaches pushing for the change in rules in re: to the following: 1) Do you plan to organize and appeal? Surely there are enough programs benefiting from foreign players to overcome these guys sour grapes? 2) How can we overcome the new rules to remain the tennis power that we are? Thank you for the way you run your TEAM. It makes being a Baylor Bear fun. |
| | Matt Knoll: David, thanks for your comments about the strong TEAM aspect of our tennis program. I played team sports as a child growing up and I've avoided adding players that have a "Me First" attitude. I can tell you that our current group has formed a very tight bond and that they play for each other and for Baylor. It's my opinion that the new rule at minimum goes against the spirit of competition and everything the NCAA stands for. It's unfortunate that we have to deal with such short-sighted thinking. We're obligated to respect and adhere to any relevant rules and we fully expect to do so. I think an opportunity does exist for prospective student-athletes from countries like Israel and Germany to mount a legal challenge. For those of you out there who are unaware, the new rule states that you have to enter a U.S. univiersity prior to your 20th birthday. In countries like Israel and Germany, where young men have mandatory military service, that's often not possible. |
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| | Matt Knoll: Thanks everyone for your support. Sic 'em Bears. |
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