May 10, 2005

WACO, Texas - NCAA Tournament First and Second Rounds
Baylor Tennis Center - Waco, Texas
Hosted by Baylor

First Round
Friday, May 13
3 p.m. - #29 Texas (11-8) vs. #37 Rice (15-9)
6 p.m. - #1 Baylor (28-0) vs. Prairie View A&M (13-8)

Second Round
Saturday, May 14
6 p.m. - Winner match 1 vs. winner match 2

Baylor will provide live scoring of all matches at: www.baylorbears.com

TICKET PRICES - Day-Weekend
Premium Seating - $10- $15
General Admission (Adult) - $5- $8
General Admission (Child/Student) - $3- $5

Baylor - The 28-0 Baylor Bears, ranked No. 1 nationally and the tournament's No. 1 seed, are participating in their eighth NCAA Tournament. Baylor is the defending NCAA Champion.

The Bears are led by second-ranked Benedikt Dorsch, No. 18 Benjamin Becker, No. 50 Lars Poerschke and No. 106 Michal Kokta. Poerschke leads the team in singles wins with a 34-11 record while Kokta follows with a 32-9 mark. Dorsch is 25-2 this season and Becker is 24-5. Becker and Kokta went 7-0 this season in conference play, while Kokta went 6-1. The Bears have also been powerful in doubles play. Matija Zgaga and Dorsch rank second nationally with a 19-4 record having played every match on the No. 1 court. Kokta and Poerschke are 18-4 in the No. 2 court for the Bears, while Becker and Reckewey enter the tournament at 15-6.

Baylor will take on Prairie View A&M in first round action. The Panthers are making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. Texas and Rice tangle if the other first round matchup.

Baylor Quick Notes...
• Baylor is going for its second-straight NCAA Tournament title.
• The Bears have not been ranked lower than seventh nationally over the past three seasons.
• Baylor has won a school-record 52 consecutive matches, last loss came on Feb. 28 at then-No. 13 Southern California (4-3).
• BU's 52-match win streak is the nation's longest active tennis win streak.
• Baylor finished the 2005 regular season with a 25-0 mark, the first undefeated regular season in school history.
• Baylor won the 2004 NCAA Team Championship.
• Senior Benjamin Becker won the 2004 NCAA Singles Tournament last season as a junior.
• The Bears have won 28-straight regular season conference matches dating back to 2002.
• Baylor has been ranked in the No. 1 spot in all 14 ITA rankings this season.
• Senior Benjamin Becker is Baylor's all-time career singles victory leader with 135 wins.
• Benedikt Dorsch holds the all-time singles wins in a season with 49 in 2002-03.
• Baylor is 115-6 over the past three seasons (27-2 in 2002; 28-2 in 2003; 32-2 in 2004; 28-0 so far in 2005).
• The Bears have not lost a match to a Big 12 school since 2001 when Texas defeated Baylor in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament...that's 40 straight matches over Big 12 opponents.

Baylor in the NCAA Tournament...
The Bears are 16-6 in NCAA Tournament play. Prior to winning the NCAA National Championship last season, their highest finishes were in 1999 and 2003 when they reached the quarterfinals.

Baylor's' NCAA Tournament record breakdown:
First round - 5-2
Second round - 5-0
Round of 16 - 3-2
Quarterfinals - 1-2
Semifinals - 1-0
Finals - 1-0

1998
First round - Lost to #44 TCU, 4-2 (Texas host)

1999
First round - Defeated #67 Indiana State, 4-1 (Indiana State host)
Second round - Defeated #20 Harvard, 4-1
Round of 16 - Defeated #5 Stanford, 4-3
Quarterfinals - Lost to #6 Georgia, 4-3

2000 - 5th seed
First round - Defeated Marist College, 4-0 (Baylor host)
Second round - Defeated #24 Mississippi State, 4-2
Round of 16 - Lost to #11 TCU, 4-1

2001
First round - Lost to #40 Tulane, 4-2 (TCU host)

2002 - 6th seed
First round - Def. Hartford, 4-0 (Harvard host)
Second Round - Def. Harvard, 4-0
Round of 16 - Lost to #11 USC, 4-2

2003 - 2nd seed
First round - Def. UT-Arlington, 4-3 (Baylor host)
Second round - Def. #24 TCU, 4-3
Round of 16 - Def. #16 Alabama, 4-1
Quarterfinals - Lost to #6 Vanderbilt, 4-0

2004 - 3rd seed
First round - Def. Manhattan College, 4-3 (Baylor host)
Second Round - Def. #35 SMU, 4-0
Round of 16 - Def. # 14 Rice, 4-1
Quarterfinals - Def. #22 Ohio State, 4-1
Semifinals - Def. #4 USC, 4-0
Finals - Def. #3 UCLA, 4-0

2005 - 1st seed
First round - Vs. Prairie View A&M

Baylor in the Rankings...
According to the most recent Omni Hotels Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings released May 2, the Baylor men's tennis team is ranked No.1 in the nation.
ITA Top 125 individual rankings released on May 2:
Singles
No. 2 Benedikt Dorsch (senior)
No. 18 Benjamin Becker (senior)
No. 50 Lars Poerschke (freshman)
No. 106 Michal Kokta (sophomore)

Doubles
No. 2 Dorsch/Zgaga
No. 24 Poerschke/Zgaga

Protecting the Home Court...
During the 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 seasons, the Bears won all of their home matches. In fact, under head coach Matt Knoll the Bears are 101-16 when playing at home. In 2002, 13 matches were won on the Baylor Tennis Center and while the other three were played at the Ennis Indoor courts; in 2003, the Bears were victorious 13 times at the Baylor Tennis Center and one at the Ennis complex and they have won 14 at the Baylor Tennis Center and one at Ennis in 2004. The Bears continued their winning ways going 12-0 at home this season, 2-0 in Ennis.

Active Streaks...
Several Baylor players have lengthy active win streaks:
Michal Kokta - 11 matches - Last loss March 19 to Daniel Byrnes of Oklahoma State
Benjamin Becker - 7 matches - Last loss April 2 to Jeremy Blandin of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Kokta/Poerschke - 10 matches - Last loss March 18 to Velicka/Tanasoiu of Oklahoma

Bears on the Career Charts...
Benjamin Becker
#1 - career singles victories (135)
#1 (tie) - career doubles victories (99)
#1 - singles wins, conference career (26)
#1 - dual match singles wins, career (88)
#3 - singles winning percentage, career (.813, 135-31)

Benedikt Dorsch
#1 - singles winning percentage, career (.878, 108-15)
#2 - career singles victories (108)
#4 - career doubles wins (79)
#9 - dual match singles wins, career (66)

Bears on the Season Charts...
Benjamin Becker
#2 - singles wins, season (44, 2003-04)
#1 (tie) - dual match singles wins, season (25, 2004)

Benedikt Dorsch
#1 - singles wins, season (49, 2002-03)
#3 (tie) - dual match singles wins, season (24, 2004)
#3 (tie) - doubles wins, season (32, 2002-03)

Michal Kokta
#6 - dual match singles wins, season (23, 2005)
#10 - doubles wins, season (28, 2004-05)

Lars Poerschke
#3 - doubles win, season (32, 2005)
#5 - singles wins, conference season (7, 2005)
#7 - singles wins, season (35, 2005)

Matija Zgaga
#1 (tie) - Dual match singles wins, season (25, 2004)
#7 - doubles wins, season (29, 2005)