Men's Tennis Begins NCAA Tournament Play

Men's Tennis 5/8/2008 12:00:00 AM

May 8, 2008

THE BEARS: Baylor's men's tennis squad, the tournament's No. 9 seed, will be making its 11th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and is hosting its sixth straight first and second rounds. The Bears, currently 22-8 on the season and ranked No. 10 nationally, have been to four straight NCAA Final Fours, including a national title in 2004 and runner-up finish in 2005.

After enjoying a very successful fall season, Denes Lukacs has continued to shine, the sophomore owns the team's best singles record at 41-9. Senior Lars Poerschke sat out the fall portion of the season and is 17-6 on the season, including a 12-6 dual match record, all at No. 1. Sophomore Dominik Mueller owns the team's best dual match mark at 25-4 and is 34-9 overall.

Freshman Jordan Rux currently owns the squad's top win streak with 14 in a row while Lukacs follows closely with an 11-match win streak.

THE SCHEDULE:
Saturday, May 10
11 a.m. - Baylor vs. Oral Roberts
2 p.m. - Texas A&M vs. SMU

Sunday, May 11
2 p.m. - First round winners

TICKET PRICES:
Daily: Reserved seating - $10; General Admission - Adults - $5; Students - $3
All Session Pass: Reserved seating - $30; General Admission - Adults - $10; Students - $5

THE WACO FIELD: Oral Roberts received an automatic selection by winning the Summit Conference. The squad finished regular season play with a record of 7-9. Texas A&M is currently ranked No. 25 and comes into the tournament with a 12-11 record. SMU, ranked No. 40, is 20-8 on the season after falling to Rice in the Conference USA tournament semifinals. The second round winner in Waco will advance to the NCAA Tennis Championships at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center in Tulsa, Okla. Men's round of 16 competition begins on Friday, May 16.

Baylor in the NCAA Tournament: The Bears are 29-9 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 runners-up after losing to UCLA 4-3 in the championship match, lost to top-seeded Georgia in the 2006 semifinals and dropped a 4-3 semifinal thriller to Illinois in 2007.

Baylor's' NCAA Tournament Record Breakdown:
First round - 8-2
Second round - 8-0
Round of 16 - 6-2
Quarterfinals - 4-2
Semifinals - 2-2
Finals - 1-1

1998
First round - Lost to #44 TCU, 4-2 (Texas host)

1999
First round - Def. #67 Indiana State, 4-1 (Indiana State host)
Second round - Def. #20 Harvard, 4-1
Round of 16 - Def. #5 Stanford, 4-3 (Georgia host)
Quarterfinals - Lost to #6 Georgia, 4-3

2000 - 5th seed
First round - Def. Marist College, 4-0 (Baylor host)
Second round - Def. #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)
Quarterfinals - Lost to #6 Vanderbilt, 4-0

2004 - 3rd seed
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)
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 - Def. Texas Southern, 4-0 (Baylor host)
Second Round - Def. #34 Tulsa, 4-0
Round of 16 - Def. #21 Washington, 4-1 (Stanford host)
Quarterfinals - Def. #13 Stanford, 4-3
Semifinals - Lost to #1 Georgia, 4-3

2007 - 3rd seed
First round - Def. Oral Roberts, 4-0 (Baylor host)
Second round - Def. #35 Texas A&M, 4-0
Round of 16 - Def. #17 Alabama, 4-0
Quarterfinals - Def. #27 North Carolina State, 4-0
Semifinals - Lost to #10 Illinois, 4-2

2008 - 9th seed
First round - Vs. Oral Roberts (Baylor host)

ITA RANKINGS UPDATE: Baylor moved to No. 11 in the latest ITA rankings released April 22. The Bears ranked singles players, as of April 1 include: No. 8 Lars Poerschke, No. 11 Denes Lukacs and No. 110 Dominik Mueller, while doubles rankings consist of No. 42 Poerschke/Attila Bucko and No.49 David Galic/Jordan Rux.

BAYLOR TOPS: Baylor, the most successful men's team over the past five seasons (2004-07), 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 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).

2007-08 HONORS:
Matt Brown
Academic All-Big 12 - first team

David Galic
All-Big 12 - Doubles

Denes Lukacs
Big 12 Player of the Week (April 21)
Most Outstanding Player, Big 12 Championships
All-Big 12 - Singles and Doubles
ITA All-America - Singles

Dominik Mueller
Academic All-Big 12 - first team

Lars Poerschke
All-Big 12 - Singles
ITA All-America - Singles (three time)

NCAA SINGLES SELECTIONS: Lars Poerschke and Denes Lukacs have been selected to participate in the NCAA Tournament singles bracket.

Poerschke, ranked No. 8, is seeded in the 1-8 range while the ninth-ranked Lukacs is a 9-16 seed. Along with the prestige of receiving a top seeding in the tournament, players who are seeded automatically obtain All-America status. This marks Poerschke's fourth appearance at the NCAA Tournament and his third time to earn All-American in singles, while Lukacs earned All-America honors for the first time.

Lukacs, making his first appearance in the individual portion of the tournament, leads the Bears this season with a team-best 41-9 season record which ranks No. 3 on Baylor single season victory list. An All-Big 12 selection, Lukacs sports a 21-4 dual match record and was named the Big 12 Championships' most outstanding player after leading the Bears to the tournament title.

Poerschke, now a three-time All-American, is 17-6 on the season after missing the fall portion of the Bears' schedule. The four-time All-Big 12 honoree is 12-6 in dual match play this spring. The senior's 116 career single victories ranks No. 3 on Baylor's singles victory list while his 100 career doubles wins ranks No. 2 on the Baylor charts.

Poerschke and Lukacs now join former Baylor standouts Benjamin Becker, Benedikt Dorsch and Johann Jooste as ITA All-America selections in singles.

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