March 26, 2008
WACO, Texas -
Complete Release in PDF Format 
UPCOMING MATCHES: The 18th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will host four home matches this week prior to beginning Big 12 Conference action, taking on Hardin-Simmons and SMU on Thursday (March 27) and Laredo College and Memphis on Saturday (March 29).
ITA RANKINGS UPDATE: Baylor moved to No. 18 in the latest ITA rankings released March 25. The Bears ranked singles players, as of March 18 include: No. 14 Denes Lukacs, No. 22 Lars Poerschke, No. 102 David Galic and No. 107 Dominik Mueller. Doubles rankings consist of: No. 50 Galic/Jordan Rux and No. 60 Galic/Lukacs.
BAYLOR VS. HARDIN-SIMMONS: Hardin-Simmons University, an NCAA Division III program and member of the American Southwest Conference, will play the Bears for the first time since the 1998 season. Baylor owns a seven-match win streak over the Cowboys.
BAYLOR VS. SMU: SMU, currently ranked No. 58, comes to Waco with a 13-6 record. The Mustangs enter the contest with one ranked player; No. 73 Robin Fahgen, a 5-11 sophomore from Smedjebacken, Sweden. Fahgen owns 3-set victories over two Baylor players this season, downing both David Galic and Matt Brown in the ITA South Central Regional Tournament. Baylor has won the last 10 meetings between the two schools.
BAYLOR VS. LAREDO COLLEGE: Junior college power Laredo Community College, of which current Baylor player Gwen Corches is an alumni, brings an impressive squad to the Baylor Tennis Center. The Palominos are 4-0 on the season and own a 4-3 win over UT-San Antonio this season.
BAYLOR VS. MEMPHIS: The Memphis Tigers enter the contest with a 5-7 record. They have met two Big 12 Conference opponents this year, losing to both Oklahoma State (6-1) and Oklahoma (5-2).
SERIES RECORDS: Baylor holds a 12-5 lead over Hardin-Simmons, trails SMU 28-13 and meets Laredo CC and Memphis for the first time.
TOP BEARS: After enjoying a very successful fall season, Denes Lukacs has continued to shine in dual match play. The sophomore owns the team's best singles record at 30-9 and is Baylor's highest-ranked player at No. 14. Senior Lars Poerschke sat out the fall portion of the season and is 13-4 on the season, including a 8-4 dual match record, all at No. 1. Sophomore Dominik Mueller owns the team's best dual match mark at 13-3 and is 22-8 overall.
Freshman Jordan Rux and sophomore Attila Bucko currently own the squad's top win streak each with three in a row.
BAYLOR TOPS: Baylor, the most successful men's team over the past five seasons, has been ranked no lower than No. 4 in the final poll during that span. The Bears were ranked No. 1 after winning the 2004 NCAA Championship, No. 2 in the final poll in `05 and No. 4 in `03, '06 and '07.
In the past four years, Baylor is the only men's team to advance to the NCAA semifinals each year. During that span, the Bears have posted a 118-14 (.894) mark and in the past six years Knoll's teams are an impressive 173-17 (.906).
HEAD COACH Matt Knoll: Throughout his 12 seasons at the helm of the Baylor tennis program, head coach Matt Knoll has produced phenomenal results. Since arriving at Baylor in 1997, Knoll has amassed a 271-68 (.799) record over 12 seasons.
His teams have captured seven Big 12 Conference regular season titles and five Big 12 Tournament championships, including five in a row beginning in 2002, the 2004 NCAA championship, the 2005 National Team Indoor title, an NCAA runner-up finish in 2005 and NCAA semifinal appearances in 2006 and 2007. In addition, he was twice named National Coach of the Year (1999 & 2005).
