Men's Tennis Faces 3 Big 12 Foes This Week

Men's Tennis 4/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

April 8, 2008

WACO, Texas -

UPCOMING MATCHES: The 15th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team (15-7, 1-0), defending Big 12 Conference champions, will continue league play as it hosts sixth-ranked Texas on Wednesday, April 9 (6 p.m.) and travels to Oklahoma for a weekend slate at No. 21 Oklahoma State (Saturday, April 12) and Oklahoma (Sunday, April 13).

BAYLOR VS. TEXAS: The sixth-ranked Texas Longhorns enter the contest at 17-3 overall, 3-0 in Big 12 Conference action and riding a four-match win streak. The Longhorns have five ranked players on their roster: #16 Dimitar Kutrovsky, #22 Kellen Damico, #48 Ed Corrie and #109 Luis Diaz Barriga. Three doubles tandems are ranked as well; #6 Diaz Barriga/Damico, #7 Damico/Corrie, #41 Diaz Barriga/Miguel Reyes Varela.

BAYLOR VS. OKLAHOMA STATE: Oklahoma State, currently ranked No. 21, will bring a 13-6 season record and a 3-1 Big 1 mark into Saturday's contest at OSU's DeBois Tennis Complex. Prior to hosting the Bears, OSU will play at Tulsa on Wednesday. Eighth-ranked Oleksandr Nedovyesov leads the Cowboys while Ivan Puchkarov is ranked No. 54 and Dmytro Petrov is No. 110. They have one ranked doubles tandem in Nedovyesov/Nathan Byrnes at No. 20.

The Cowboys already own a victory over Baylor this season after posting a 4-2 win at the National Team Indoor on Feb. 15.

BAYLOR VS. OKLAHOMA: The Oklahoma Sooners, in addition to hosting Baylor will host UT-Arlington on Friday at the school's Headington Family Tennis Center. Prior to that contest, the Sooners sported an 8-10 record and were 0-3 in Big 12 play.

SERIES RECORDS: Texas owns a 39-12 series lead versus the Bears but Baylor has won 11 of the last 13 contests between the two schools. Baylor leads the series with Oklahoma State 13-8 and had won 13 straight before the Feb. 15 loss to the Cowboys. The series between Baylor and Oklahoma is tied at 14 apiece but Baylor has won 13 straight.

BAYLOR IN BIG 12 CONFERENCE PLAY: Baylor's match at Texas A&M last Wednesday marked the beginning of the 12th season of Big 12 Conference competition. The Bears have won seven Big 12 Conference regular season titles, including six straight. In addition, Baylor has claimed the Big 12 Tournament title five times.

Since the start of the 2002 season, Baylor has posted a 41-1 league record. Under head coach Matt Knoll, the Bears are 72-12 (.857) in 12 seasons of Big 12 play.

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 34-9 and is Baylor's highest-ranked player at No. 10. Senior Lars Poerschke sat out the fall portion of the season and is 14-4 on the season, including a 9-4 dual match record, all at No. 1. Sophomore Dominik Mueller owns the team's best dual match mark at 18-3 and is 27-8 overall.

Sophomore Attila Bucko currently owns the squad's top win streak each with eight in a row. Freshman Jordan Rux follows closely with a six-match win streak.

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE: Baylor moved to No. 15 in the latest ITA rankings released April 1. The Bears ranked singles players, as of April 1 include: No. 10 Denes Lukacs, No. 20 Lars Poerschke, No. 101 Dominik Mueller No. and 104 David Galic, while doubles rankings consist of No. 44 Galic/Lukacs.

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 (2004-07), 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 (2002-07) 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 275-68 (.802) 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).

BEARS ON THE CAREER CHARTS:

Singles Wins, Career
1. Benjamin Becker 2001-05 141
2. Benedikt Dorsch 2002-05 119
3. Lars Poerschke 2005-present 113

Doubles Wins, Career
1. Benjamin Becker 2001-05 104
2. Matija Zgaga 2004-07 100
3. Reiner Neurohr 2000-04 99
4. Mark Williams 1998-01 94
5. Lars Poerschke 2005-present 92

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