April 9, 2005
WACO, Texas - The top-ranked Baylor men's tennis team defeated South Florida Saturday night, 4-3 at the Baylor Tennis Center.
The Bears improve to 21-0 on the season and have won 45-straight matches. The loss drops the Bulls to 8-12, snapping a five-match winning streak.
The Bears jumped out to a 1-0 lead after taking two of three from the Bulls in doubles action. The No. 14-ranked team of Matija Zgaga and Lars Poerschke won the first match for Baylor by defeating Frederico Barton and Uli Kiendl of USF 8-4. Saturday's match marked the first time the tandem has played since Jan. 30.
Baylor clinched the doubles point when Michal Kokta and Jon Reckewey defeated Mark Jager and Andreas Maroldt 8-6 on the second court. The Baylor duo is now 2-0 in dual matches; their other win coming at Colorado Jan. 30.
Kokta gave Baylor a 2-0 advantage after taking the point on the second court. He defeated Juan Barragan 6-3, 6-0 to take the match. Kokta improves to 27-9 overall this season.
The Bears lead quickly changed to 3-2 as courts one, five and six finished within minutes of each other. Greg Shearer grabbed his ninth win of the season on the fifth court, while Baylor dropped the points on courts one and six.
With the Bears leading 3-2, but down in the third set in the fourth court, Matija Zgaga won the third-court point to give the Bears the decisive fourth point to take the match. Zgaga lost the first set 4-6, but was able to rebound to take the final-two sets 6-2, 6-3 to clinch Baylor's victory.
Baylor returns to action Sunday, as the Bears host No. 50 SMU. Match time is set for 6 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center.
Doubles: 1, 2, 3
1. #14 Zgaga/Poerschke (BU) def. Barton/Kiendl (USF) 8-4
2. Kokta/Reckewey (BU) def. Jager/Maroldt (USF) 8-6
3. Barragan/Brozyna (USF) def. Portnov/Shearer (BU) 8-6
Singles: 2, 1, 5, 6, 3, 4
1. Uli Kiendl (USF) def. #21 Lars Poerschke (BU) 6-3, 7-6(5)
2. Michal Kokta (BU) def. Juan Barragan (USF) 6-3, 6-0
3. Matija Zgaga (BU) def. Frederico Barton (USF) 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
4. Andreas Maroldt (USF) def. Vladimir Portnov (BU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
5. Greg Shearer (BU) def. Mark Jager (USF) 6-1, 6-2
6. Juan Carlos Gomez(USF) def. Jon Reckewey (BU) 7-5, 6-4
Baylor - 21-0
South Florida - 8-12
