April 25, 2006
WACO, Texas -
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2006 Big 12 Men's Tennis Championships
Baylor Tennis Center - Waco, Texas
Hosted by Baylor University
Friday, April 28 - Sunday, April 30
Quarterfinals
Friday, April 28
8:30 a.m. - No. 2 Texas vs. No. 7 Oklahoma - BTC
11 a.m. - No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 6 Texas Tech - STC
1:30 p.m. - No. 4 Oklahoma State vs. No. 5 Texas A&M - BTC
7 p.m. - No. 1 Baylor vs. No. 8 Nebraska - BTC
Semifinals
Saturday, April 29 - 1 p.m. & 7 p.m. - BTC
Finals Sunday, April 30 -6 p.m. - BTC
BTC - Baylor Tennis Center
STC - Streich Tennis Courts
Teams listed by tournament seed, not national ranking.
Baylor University will provide live scoring on its website:
www.baylorbears.com
TICKET PRICES
All-Tournament Pass (Adult) $10
All-Tournament Pass (Child/Student) $5
General Admission (Adult) $5
General Admission (Child/Student) $3
TICKET SALES
Advance tickets may be purchased through the Baylor Athletic Ticket Office by calling 254-710-1000.
Tickets may also be purchased at the Baylor Ballpark ticket booth. The ticket booth will be open one hour before each match of the tournament.
No. 4 Baylor - The 19-5 Baylor Bears, ranked No. 6 nationally and the championship's No. 1 seed, are participating in their 10th Big 12 Championship. Baylor has won the last-four Big 12 Championship titles, along with the last five regular-season titles.
The Bears are led by ninth-ranked Lars Poerschke, No. 41 Michal Kokta, No. 50 Matija Zgaga and No. 115 Matt Brown. Kokta leads the team in singles wins with a 34-7 record while Poerschke follows with a 31-9 mark. En route to the Bears' Big 12 title, Poerschke posted a perfect 7-0 singles mark while Brown and Kokta were each 6-1.
Kokta and Poerschke are the Bears' highest ranked doubles duo at No. 28. They are 13-1 on the season, all coming in dual match play. They are 6-1 at the No. 1 spot and 7-0 on court two. Baylor has won the Big 12 regular season and Big 12 Championship titles every year since 2002. The Bears are 34-1 over the past five years in regular-season conference play after suffering their only loss this season at Texas A&M (4-3). Last year, Baylor defeated Texas, 4-1, to win the Big 12 Championship title.
The Bears will take on Nebraska in quarterfinal action at 7 p.m. on Friday. Nebraska enters the match with a 10-12 overall and 0-7 Big 12 mark.
Baylor vs. Nebraska Earlier this Year...
#1 Baylor 6, #63 Nebraska 1 - April 23, Waco, Texas
Doubles
1. #28 Poerschke/Kokta def. Mark Tate/Posch (NEB) 8-5
2. Brown/Zgaga (BU) def. Szatmary/Barthel (NEB) 8-6
3. Ward/Galic (BU) def. Clow/Arturo Navarro (NEB) 8-2
Singles
1. #9 Lars Poerschke (BU) def. Jerry Posch (NEB) 7-5, 4-6, 6-4
2. #50 Matija Zgaga (BU) def. James Clow (NEB) 6-2, 6-2
3. #41 Michal Kokta (BU) def. Renato Melo (NEB) 6-0, 6-2
4. Adrian Szatmary (NEB) def. Will Ward (BU) 6-1, 6-4
5. #115 Matt Brown (BU) def. Hendrik Stahmar (NEB) 6-1, 7-6(4)
6. Vladimir Portnov (BU) def. Joerg Barthel (NEB) 7-5, 6-2
Baylor Quick Notes...
• Baylor currently ranked No. 4 (tied with Texas)...it is the second time this season the Bears have been No. 4, they also achieve that listing on April 11.
• Baylor is going for its fifth-straight Big 12 Championship title.
• The Bears have won five straight regular season Big 12 Championships and six of the last seven.
• Baylor won a share the 2006 Big 12 regular season title April 23 with a 6-1 win over Nebraska.
• The Bears have not been ranked lower than ninth nationally over the past four seasons.
• Baylor is 139-12 over the past four seasons (27-2 in 2002; 28-2 in 2003; 32-2 in 2004; 33-1 in 2005 and 19-5 so far in 2006).
• Sophomore Lars Poerschke is the only Bear to be named Big 12 Player of the Week this season, he's achieve it twice (March 13 & April 25).
• Poerschke is undefeated in Big 12 regular season action at 14-0. He was 7-0 last season and repeated that mark in 2006.
• Junior Matija Zgaga, a junior, ranks No. 7 in doubles (77) and No. 9 in singles (73) on BU's career list.
• Junior Michal Kokta needs one more singles win to break into BU's top 10 in career singles victories, he currently has 70.
• Baylor is a young squad with three juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen.
Baylor in the Big 12 Championships...
The Bears are 19-5 all time in the Big 12 Championships. Baylor has won the last four championships and the last five regular-season titles, including 2006.
Baylor's' Big 12 Tournament record breakdown:
Quarterfinals - 9-0
Semifinals - 6-3
Finals - 4-2
1997
Quarterfinals - Defeated Nebraska, 4-0
Semifinals - Lost to No. 13 Texas, 4-0
1998
Quarterfinals - Defeated No. 38 Colorado, 4-2
Semifinals - Lost to No. 5 Texas, 4-1
1999
Quarterfinals - Defeated No. 67 Oklahoma, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated No. 50 Kansas, 4-0
Finals - Lost to No. 7 Texas, 4-0
2000
Quarterfinals - Defeated Colorado, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated Kansas, 4-0
Finals - Lost to No. 7 Texas A&M, 4-0
2001
Quarterfinals - Defeated Colorado, 4-0
Semifinals - Lost to No. 21 Texas, 4-1
2002
Quarterfinals - Defeated No. 70 Oklahoma, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated No. 61 Texas Tech, 4-1
Finals - Defeated No. 17 Texas A&M, 4-2
2003
Quarterfinals - Defeated Nebraska, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated No. 11 Texas A&M, 4-1
Finals - Defeated No. 33 Oklahoma St., 4-0
2004
Quarterfinals - Defeated Nebraska, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated No. 30 Oklahoma St., 4-0
Finals - Defeated No. 22 Texas A&M, 4-0
2005
Quarterfinals - Defeated Nebraska, 4-0
Semifinals - Defeated No. 38 Texas, 4-1
Finals - Defeated No. 16 Oklahoma State, 4-1
Baylor in the Rankings...
According to the most recent Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings released April 25, the Baylor men's tennis team is ranked No. 4 (tied with Texas) nationally.
ITA Top 125 individual rankings released on April 25:
Singles
No. 6 Lars Poerschke (sophomore)
No. 38 Michal Kokta (junior)
No. 61 Matija Zgaga (junior)
No. 117 Matt Brown (freshman)
Doubles
No. 34 Kokta/Poerschke
No. 36 Reckewey/Zgaga
Head Coach Matt Knoll...
Head coach Matt Knoll is in his 10th season at the Bears' helm. He has a career record of 234-71 in 11 seasons as a head coach and is 225-55 in his tenure with the Bears. Knoll owns an .804 winning percentage in his 10 seasons at Baylor. He has guided the Bears to six Big 12 championships (2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005& 2006), including five straight. Under his guidance the Bears have made seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the school's first NCAA Championship which the Bears won in 2004. Knoll has produced two NCAA singles champions as well, Benjamin Becker in 2004 and Benedikt Dorsch in 2005.
Academic All-Big 12...
Michal Kokta and Will Ward were recently named Academic All-Big 12 by the conference office.
Kokta was named to the first team while Ward was a second team selection. Kokta, a junior finance and economics major, is currently ranked No. 38 nationally and sports the team's top singles and doubles record at 34-7 and 22-3, respectively. Ward, a redshirt sophomore from Auckland, New Zealand, is majoring in business administration.
To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of his/her team's scheduled contests. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.
Baylor Big 12 Player of the Week...
Lars Poerschke - March 13, April 25
2006 Honors...
Big 12 Player of the Week - Lars Poerschke (twice)
Academic All-Big 12 - Michal Kokta (first team), Will Ward (second team)
