April 19, 2005
WACO, Texas - The top-ranked Baylor men's tennis team clinched its fourth-straight Big 12 title Tuesday as the Bears defeated No. 14 Texas A&M 6-1 at the Baylor Tennis Center.
The Bears have won five conference titles since winning their first in 2000. Tuesday's win also marks the first undefeated, regular season for the men's tennis team. Baylor went 25-0 overall, while going 7-0 in Big 12 play.
The Bears got on the board first by taking the doubles point from the Aggies. The fifth-ranked tandem of Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga took match on the first court 8-3. But Texas A&M countered with a win on the third court to settle the doubles-match score at 1-1.
In the second court, Baylor's Michal Kokta and Lars Poerschke were up 7-5, but Texas A&M's Zack Malmgren and Bryan Wooten won the next-two games to even the score at 7-7. The Bears took the next game to take an 8-7 lead, however the Aggies wouldn't back down, winning the next game to force a tiebreaker. It was all Kokta and Poerschke in the tiebreaker, winning the match 9-8(2) to take the doubles point.
No. 36 Poerschke gave Baylor a 2-0 lead by defeating No. 120 Brett Joelson in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. The freshman finishes the season with a team-high 33 wins overall, with a 13-4 third-court record.
With the Bears leading 3-1, No. 21 Benjamin Becker clinched the win and the Big 12 title for Baylor by defeating No. 101 Ante Matijevic 7-5, 6-1 in the second court. Becker, the 2004 NCAA singles tournament champion, finished the regular season at 22-5 and holds a five-match winning streak heading into post-season play.
Baylor continued its winning ways on the fourth court as No. 117 Michal Kokta defeated Bryan Wooten 6-3, 7-5. Kokta, last week's Big 12 Player of the Week, went 30-9 overall during the regular season, 5-2 against ranked opponents.
In a marathon match on the fifth court, Baylor's Matija Zgaga and Texas A&M's Mohamed Dakki battled to a decisive third set. Dakki had the upper hand early taking the first set 6-2. However Zgaga came back in the second set 7-5, then captured the third set to win 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Baylor returns to action a week from Friday, April 29, as the Bears travel to Austin for the Big 12 Tournament. Match times will be posted later this week.
Doubles:1, 3, 2
1.#5 Dorsch/Zgaga (BU) def. #27 Joelson/Matijevic (TAMU) 8-3
2.Kokta/Poerschke (BU) def. Malmgren/Wooten (TAMU) 9-8(2)
3.Bain/Makowski (TAMU) def. Becker/Reckewey (BU) 8-5
Singles: 3, 6, 1, 2, 4, 5
1.#23 Jerry Makowski (TAMU) def. #1 Benedikt Dorsch (BU) 6-3, 6-3
2.#21 Benjamin Becker (BU) def. #101 Ante Matijevic (TAMU) 7-5, 6-1
3.#36 Lars Poerschke (BU) def. #120 Brett Joelson (TAMU) 6-1, 6-2
4.#117 Michal Kokta (BU) def. Bryan Wooten (TAMU) 6-3, 7-5
5.Matija Zgaga (BU) def. Mohamed Dakki (TAMU) 2-6, 7-5, 7-5
6.Greg Shearer (BU) def. Matt Bain (TAMU) 6-4, 6-0
Baylor - 25-0, 7-0 Big 12
Texas A&M - 13-7, 4-2 Big 12
