March 18, 2005

WACO, Texas - The top-ranked Baylor men's tennis team handed No. 45 Oklahoma its first loss of the season Friday at the Baylor Tennis Facility. The Bears improve to 14-0 on the season and 3-0 in conference.

Baylor(14-0, 3-0) took the doubles point from Oklahoma (11-1, 0-1) to give the Bears an early 1-0 advantage. The 12th-ranked Baylor duo of Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga won their eight-straight match on the No. 1 court with an 8-4 win over Tommy Garrison and Ondrej Fukala of Oklahoma.

Seniors No. 37 Benjamin Becker and No. 1 Dorsch extended Baylor's lead to 3-0 with their singles wins. Becker defeated No. 80 Alexei Ivanov 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 2 court. Dorsch followed suit moments later with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 85 Marek Velicka in the first court.

However, it was youngster Vladimir Portnov who sealed the win for Baylor with his 6-2, 6-2 win in the sixth court. Portnov is 8-3 in dual matches this season and has won five of the last six matches in the No. 6 court for the Bears.

The Bears return to action Saturday as the Bears host No. 13 Oklahoma State. Match time is set for 6 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Facility.

Doubles
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
1. #12 Dorsch/Zgaga (BU) def. Garrison/Fukala (OU) 8-4
2. Velicka/Tanasoiu (OU) def. #22 Kokta/Poerschke (BU) 8-5
3. Becker/Reckewey (BU) def. Ivanov/Thomas (OU) 8-2

Singles
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 6, 4, 5, 3
1. #1 Benedikt Dorsch (BU) def. #85 Marek Velicka (OU) 6-4, 6-1
2. #37 Benjamin Becker (BU) def. # 80 Alexei Ivanov (OU) 6-2, 6-4
3. #19 Lars Poerschke (BU) def. Ondrej Fukala (OU) 6-3, 6-7(1), (11-9)
4. Michal Kokta (BU) def. Silviu Tanasoiu (OU) 7-6(7), 6-1
5. Tommy Garrison (OU) def. Matija Zgaga (BU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
6. Vladimir Portnov (BU) def. Lee Gregg (OU) 6-2, 6-2