May 25, 2005
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Baylor's Matt Knoll and Benedikt Dorsch were named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) NCAA Division I men's tennis Coach of the Year and Senior Player of the Year, respectively. In addition the Class of 2005 was inducted into the ITA Men's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame Wednesday night at the College Station Hilton Hotel.
The ITA Hall of Fame Class of 2005 consists of: Mike Estep (Rice), Sammy Giammalva (Texas), Paul Haarhuis (Florida State and Armstrong Atlantic), Jim Osborne (Utah) and John Sadri (NC State), and contributor Frank Phelps (Hamilton (N.Y.) College).
Highlighting this year's national award winners is Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year Matt Knoll of Baylor. He led the Bears to last night's NCAA final, where they fell 4-3 to UCLA. Prior to the loss they had won 57 matches in a row, which is the second longest win streak since 1977. Baylor, NCAA champs in 2004, appeared at No. 1 in the every team ranking during the regular season. Knoll owns a 216-66 record in his 10 seasons as a head coach and is 208-50 in his nine seasons a Baylor.
This year's other ITA national award winners are:
ITA/Farnsworth National Senior Player of the Year - Benedikt Dorsch, Baylor
ITA National Rookie of the Year - Benjamin Kohlloeffel, UCLA
ITA National Player to Watch - John Isner, Georgia
ITA/Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship - Mat Cloer, Florida State
ITA/Rafael Osuna Sportsmanship Award - Sven Swinnen, Oregon
ITA/John Van Nostrand Memorial Award - Alex Vlaski, Washington
ITA National Assistant Coach of the Year - Tony Bresky, Virginia
Baylor's Dorsch is the ITA/Farnsworth National Senior Player of the Year. Dorsch has appeared at No. 1 in the ITA national singles rankings at various points in each of the last three seasons. He was named ITA National Player of the Year in 2004 when he led Baylor to the NCAA championship. Last night he was named Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA team tournament for the second straight year. Dorsch, who has also appeared in three national singles finals, is 30-2 this season. Dorsch is Baylor's first three-time double All-American, earning All-American status in both singles and doubles all three years at Baylor. In addition, he is a three-time Big 12 Player of the Year selection.
The ITA names the National Player of the Year and National Doubles Team of the Year next month.
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, 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. The official ITA website is www.itatennis.com.
