May 12, 2006

WACO, Texas - 2006 NCAA Men's Tennis Championships
Baylor Tennis Center - Waco, Texas
Hosted by Baylor University
Saturday, May 13 & Sunday, May 14

MEN'S 2006 NCAA WACO REGIONAL
Saturday, May 13:
11 a.m. #4 Baylor (21-6) vs. Texas Southern (10-7)
2 p.m. #31 Middle Tennessee State (16-7) vs. #34 Tulsa (17-11)

Sunday, May 14:
2 p.m. Regional Championship (Saturday winners)

The winner of Sunday's regional championship match will advance to the site of the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships hosted by Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. All matches will be played at the Taube Tennis Center at Stanford. The first match for the winner of the Waco Regional would be on Saturday, May 20 at 5 p.m. (CDT). They would face the winner of the Virginia Commonwealth Regional which includes Virginia Commonwealth/Richmond/Washington/Penn State.

TICKET PRICES
ALL SESSION - $30.00 reserved all session three-day pass

DAILY
Tickets purchased on a daily basis (two women's matches on Friday, all three matches on Saturday and Sunday's men's match) are priced daily at $10 for reserved seats, $5 for adult general admission and $3 for student (under 18) general admission seating (this includes Baylor students with ID).

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 Tennis Center. The ticket booth will be open one hour before the first match of the tournament.

NO. 4 BAYLOR - The 21-6 Baylor Bears, ranked No. 4 nationally and the championship's No. 5 seed, are participating in their ninth NCAA Championship. Baylor is hosting its fifth NCAA Regional (2000, `03, `04, `05, `06) and fourth straight.

The Bears are led by fourth-ranked Lars Poerschke, No. 29 Michal Kokta, No. 65 Matija Zgaga and No. 124 Matt Brown. Kokta leads the team in singles wins with a 37-7 record while Poerschke follows with a 33-9 mark.

Kokta and Poerschke are the Bears' highest ranked doubles duo at No. 23. They are 14-1 on the season, all coming in dual match play. They are 7-1 at the No. 1 spot and 7-0 on court two.

The Bears will take on Texas Southern in first around action.

Baylor Quick Notes...
• Baylor currently ranked No. 4...it is the third time this season the Bears have been No. 4, they also achieved that listing on April 11 and 25.
• Baylor is going for its sixth-straight NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.
• BU is making its ninth straight NCAA Championships appearance.
• The Bears have won five straight regular season Big 12 Championships and six of the last seven.
• The Bears have not been ranked lower than ninth nationally over the past four seasons.
• Baylor is 141-13 over the past four seasons (27-2 in 2002; 28-2 in 2003; 32-2 in 2004; 33-1 in 2005 and 21-6 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 and junior Michal Kokta were named All-Big 12 in both singles and doubles. Poerschke was a unanimous selection in both singles and doubles.
• Poerschke and Kokta have been selected to participate in the NCAA Championships singles and doubles brackets.
• 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 ranks No. 7 in doubles (77) and No. 8 in singles (74) on BU's career list.
• Junior Michal Kokta ranks No. 10 on BU's career singles win list with 73 and sits at No. 6 in singles wins in a season with 37 so far in 2006.
• Baylor is a young squad with three juniors, two sophomores, and two freshmen.

Baylor in the NCAA Tournament...
The Bears are 21-7 in NCAA Tournament play. Prior to winning the 2004 NCAA national championship, their highest finishes were in 1999 and 2003 when they reached the quarterfinals. The Bears were 2005 runnersup after losing to UCLA 4-3 in the championship match.

Baylor's' NCAA Tournament record breakdown:
First round - 6-2
Second round - 6-0
Round of 16 - 4-2
Quarterfinals - 2-2
Semifinals - 2-0
Finals - 1-1

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 (Georgia host)
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 (Georgia host)

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 (Texas A&M host)

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 (Georgia host)v Quarterfinals - Lost to #6 Vanderbilt, 4-0

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

2005 - 1st seed
First round - Def. Prairie View A&M, 4-0 (Baylor host)
Second Round - Def. #29 Texas, 4-1
Round of 16 - Def. #16 Texas A&M, 4-0 (Texas A&M host)
Quarterfinals - Def. #9 Pepperdine, 4-0
Semifinals - Def. #3 Florida, 4-1
Finals - Lost to #6 UCLA, 4-3

2006 - 4th seed
First round - Vs. Texas Southern (Baylor host)

Baylor in the Rankings...
According to the most recent Fila/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) team rankings released May1, the Baylor men's tennis team is ranked No. 4 nationally.

ITA Top 125 individual rankings released on May 1:
Singles
No. 4 Lars Poerschke (sophomore)
No. 29 Michal Kokta (junior)
No. 65 Matija Zgaga (junior)
No. 124 Matt Brown (freshman)

Doubles
No. 23 Kokta/Poerschke
No. 48 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 237-72 in 11 seasons as a head coach and is 229-56 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 are making their ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, 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.