May 21, 2008
TULSA, Okla. - Baylor's Lars Poerschke and Denes Lukacs both won their round of 64 matches in the NCAA Tennis Championships singles tournament on Wednesday at the University of Tulsa's Michael D. Case Tennis Center.
Poerschke, the tournament's No. 7 seed and ranked No. 8 nationally, downed San Diego's Dean Jackson in a match that went three sets. Poerschke, a three-time All-American, won the first set handily, dealing the 63rd-ranked Jackson a 6-2 setback. However, Jackson countered in the second set and won by the same score. In that set, Poerschke won the first game but Jackson took five of the next six to even the match. In the third and deciding set, Jackson broke Poerschke's serve in the second game but Poerschke broke Jackson's next two serves to gain back the advantage. The Buseck, Germany, native pounded out a 6-4 third-set win to advance to the tournament's round of 32.
Lukacs, making his first appearance in the individual portion of the NCAA tournament, quickly disposed of Denver's Adam Holmstrom, extending the sophomore's win streak to 15 matches. Lukacs, a native of Eger, Hungary, downed the 36th-ranked Holmstrom 6-2, 6-1. The victory raises Lukacs' season record to 45-9 and moves him into second place on Baylor's single season win list. Lukacs moved past former Bear Benjamin Becker's 44 victories, which he recorded in 2003-04, the season he won the NCAA singles national championship and the same season the Bears won the NCAA team title. In addition, the ninth-ranked Lukacs owns a 23-8 record against ranked opponents this season.
In Thursday's round of 32 action, Poerschke will take on 27th-ranked Alexey Tsyrenov of Auburn, a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 winner over Tennessee Tech's Borja Zarco. Lukacs will face 45th-ranked Albert Larregola of Virginia Tech who defeated No. 123 Victor Lamm of UC Irvine, 6-2, 6-2.
"Denes played a quality match against a dangerous opponent and I'm pleased by how well he focused and competed today. Lars was in great shape up 6-2, 1-0 with a break of serve in the second set when he lost his way. It turned into a battle of will late in the third set and he showed heart to get by Jackson. We'll practice this evening and be ready to play better tomorrow," said head coach Matt Knoll.
Live scoring of matches can be viewed at:
http://tulsahurricane.cstv.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/tuls-08-tennis-central.html
