June 8, 2004
WACO - Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch has been named the 2004 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Players of the Year, the ITA announced today. Dorsch is the first Baylor player to receive this honor and the first Big 12 honoree as well.
Dorsch will be honored at the ITA All-Star Outing and Awards Luncheon, presented by the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy, on August 27 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, N.Y.
Dorsch, a junior from Weiden, Germany, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA team tournament last month as he led the Bears to their first national title. He went 34-7 in singles this season and finished at No. 1 in the ITA Rankings. He has held the No. 1 ranking on nine occasions over the past two years - more than any other player during this time. Dorsch has also reached the singles final in four of the six national tournaments over the past two years, including the IcyHot/ITA Men's All-American Championships last fall.
In addition, Dorsch received several other honors this season. For the second consecutive year he earned All-American kudos in both singles and doubles, received Big 12 Player of the Year honors for the second straight year and was named Academic All-Big 12 first team.
"He's clearly very deserving and I can tell you that no athlete in the country in any sport works harder than Benedikt Dorsch," said head coach Matt Knoll.
The ITA National Player of the Year award goes annually to the individuals who have had the most outstanding years in both individual and team competition, as determined by an ITA committee.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which is based in Skillman, N.J., administers several national and regional championship events, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the ITA Rankings for men's and women's tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship.
Past ITA National Players of the Year:
Men
1980 - Peter Rennert, Stanford
1981 - Tim Mayotte, Stanford
1982 - Marcel Freeman, UCLA
1983 - Greg Holmes, Utah
1984 - Paul Annacone, Tennessee
1985 - Mikael Pernofors, Georgia
1986 - Rick Leach, Southern California
1987 - Richey Reneberg, SMU
1988 - Robbie Weiss, Pepperdine
1989 - MaliVai Washington, Michigan
1990 - Steve Bryan, Texas
1991 - Al Parker, Georgia
1992 - Alex O'Brien, Stanford
1993 - Chris Woodruff, Tennessee
1994 - Mark Merklein, Florida
1995 - Sargis Sargsian, Arizona State
1996 - Cecil Mamiit, Southern California
1997 - Thomas Dupre, Mississippi State
1998 - Bob Bryan, Stanford
1999 - James Blake, Harvard
2000 - Alex Kim, Stanford
2001 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2002 - Matias Boeker, Georgia
2003 - Amer Delic, Illinois
2004 - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
