March 30, 2007

WACO, Texas - Baylor men's tennis, ranked at the No. 4 spot for the second consecutive week, returns to action Sunday, April 1 at 2 p.m. when they host No. 14 Pepperdine at the Baylor Tennis Center.

The Bears enter Sunday's contest 14-2 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play. Pepperdine, 2005 NCAA champions, is currently 13-6 on the season. Baylor leads the series against Pepperdine 5-3, with its last win in 2005.

"It's a real honor to host the defending National Champions in Waco. We know they will be well coached and very competitive. It promises to be a huge challenge for us," said head coach Matt Knoll.

Leading the Bears with a 19-6 overall record is Michal Kokta, ranked at the No. 14 spot. No. 18 Lars Poerschke is also 19-6 on the season, winning eight straight singles matches. Dominik Mueller, ranked No. 91, and No. 108 Matija Zgaga also received honors in the latest Fila/ITA Collegiate Rankings. In doubles, Zgaga and David Galic were listed at the No. 43 spot while Poerschke and Galic ranked No. 48. Andre Begemann is the only ranked player for Pepperdine at the No. 23 spot, while the duo of Richard Johnson and Omar Altomann are ranked No. 29.

Three Bears have moved up Baylor's records ladder with their performance this season. In singles career wins, Kokta improved to seventh, posting 93 wins, while Poerschke and Zgaga are tied for eighth with 91. Zgaga jumped to fourth in doubles career wins with 92 and needs two more victories to reach the No. 3 spot. In dual match singles career wins, Zgaga improved to tie for fifth at 63 while Kokta is ninth on the list with 58 wins.

The Bears are back in action on Tuesday, April 3 when they will host conference rival Texas A&M at 6 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center. Fans are encouraged to "Crowd the Courts" in efforts to help set an NCAA regular season attendance record.

Live results will be available at www.baylorbears.com.