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No. 11 Baylor (4-2) vs. No. 31 Mississippi State (4-3) Feb. 27, 2011 | 1 p.m. CST| Waco, Texas | Baylor Tennis Center (1,600) Live Scoring/Blog: BaylorBears.com

Gametracker | In-Match Blog | Match Notes

The 11th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team returns to the Baylor Tennis Center on Sunday at 1 p.m. to face 31st-ranked Mississippi State in the first of nine straight home matches for the Bears.

Baylor (4-2) is coming off its first road win of the season, after downing No. 71 SMU, 6-1, on Sun., Feb. 20 in Dallas. Mississippi State (4-3) returns to Waco for the first time since 2002 looking for its first win in its third trip to the Baylor Tennis Center. Baylor has controlled the series overall, building a 4-1 series lead by winning the last three matches between the two programs.

The contest will be Baylor's fifth home match of the season with the Bears sporting a 3-1 mark in the previous four.

Live scoring and a live blog for Sunday's match will be available on BaylorBears.com.

RANKED BEARS: In the ITA €ˆteam rankings released on Feb. 22, the Bears fell out of the top 10 for the first time this season as they dropped to No. 11 after the win at SMU. Individually, Baylor has two singles players ranked in the ITA €ˆtop 125 as senior John Peers is ranked No. 27 with a 6-0 record in dual-match play and sophomore Roberto Maytin, who has a 5-1 mark in dual-match play, is ranked 110th. The Bears also have two doubles teams listed in the rankings with Peers and Maytin partnering together to be ranked seventh, while Julian Bley and Kike Grangeiro are listed at No. 32.

LAST TIME OUT: Baylor captured its first road win of the season with a 6-1 victory over No. 71 SMU €ˆon Sun., Feb. 20 in Dallas. The Bears won the doubles point for the fourth straight match and then used victories at five of the six singles positions to cruise to their second straight win.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Bears continue their season-long homestand by welcoming in Purdue on Wed., March 2 for a 3 p.m. match at the Baylor Tennis Center. The contest will be the first-ever meeting between the Bears and Boilermakers.

CURRENT SINGLES STREAKS & TRENDS: John Peers has been very solid for the Bears at the top of the singles lineup in posting a perfect 6-0 mark in five matches at No. 1 and one match at No. 2. The rest of Baylor's singles lineup has been influx throughout the year. As part of the changes Roberto Maytin has played at three different positions, but has recorded a 5-1 mark with four straight wins. Dating back to last season, the sophomore has won eight of his last 10 dual matches. Kike Grangeiro has also played well for the Bears with a 4-1 record competing at the five and six spots.

CURRENT DOUBLES STREAKS & TRENDS: BU's No. 1 and No. 3 doubles tandems have been very consistent throughout the dual-match season. At the top of the lineup, the seventh-ranked Roberto Maytin and John Peers are 5-1, while at the bottom the 32nd-ranked Julian Bley and Kike Grangeiro have an unblemished 6-0 mark.

HOME SWEET HOME: The friendly confines of the Baylor Tennis Center having been very kind to the Bears. Over the 10 years of its existence Baylor is 132-8 in matches played in Waco. Under Knoll the Bears are 182-23 when playing at home including matches played at the Streich Courts, the Baylor Tennis Center and various indoor courts in the area. From Jan. 26, 2002 until Jan. 29, 2006, the Bears did not lose at home contest racking up a 72-match win streak. This season, Baylor is 3-1 in home matches with a 2-1 mark at the Baylor Tennis Center.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE: The 31st-ranked Bulldogs come to Waco, after defeating No. 47 TCU, 5-2, €ˆin Fort Worth on Friday. The win gave Mississippi State its third straight victory, after it had started the season just 1-3. MSU opened the year with an impressive showing at No. 10 Texas A&M, but the Aggies squeaked out a 4-3 win. The Bulldogs then got their first win of the season against Arizona, before falling at No. 22 Georgia Tech and at No. 17 Mississippi. Mississippi State had rebounded with two wins over non-ranked foes, before defeating TCU. In his 4th season as the head of the MSU tennis program, former Bulldog Per Nilsson has a roster that features three seniors, four juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen.

BULLDOGS TO WATCH: The Bulldogs are led by junior Artem Ilyushin who is ranked No. 53 nationally and riding a four-match win streak. Fellow junior Louis Cant is also ranked in singles, standing at 73rd nationally. Cant has won seven of his previous eight matches. Cant teams with Malte Stropp to be ranked No. 43 in doubles. The duo is 3-2 on the season, while the Bulldogs' other ranked duo of George Copeland and Zach White (No. 72) has not played together in the dual match season.

SERIES HISTORY: Baylor and MSU met every year from 2000 to 2004, but have not played since. In those five all-time meetings the Bears hold a 4-1 series advantage over the Bulldogs. Baylor has captured the last three matches of the series. In home matches, Baylor leads the series 3-0, while in Starkville, Miss. the two teams have split a pair of matches. One of the Bears' wins at home came in the second round of the 2000 NCAA €ˆChampionship as Baylor bested Mississippi State, 4-2, while another came at the covered courts in Ennis, Texas.

LAST €ˆTIME AGAINST MSU: In a match that was moved to the indoor courts in Ennis, Texas, No. 2 Baylor outdueled 41st-ranked Mississippi State, 6-1, to get a win in the 2004 season opener on Jan. 24. The Bears captured two of three doubles matches and then five of six singles contests to cruise to the win. Benedikt Dorsch led Baylor as the No. 1 singles player and he teamed with Ivor Lovrak to make up the No. 1 doubles tandem for the Bears.

BAYLOR VS. CURRENT SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE SCHOOLS: Including its 4-1 record against Mississippi State, the Bears have a 24-20 combined record against nine of the members of the SEC. Baylor has played Florida more than any other school in the conference and holds a 5-5 record against the Gators.

OWNING €ˆNON-CONFERENCE €ˆOPPOSITION: The Knoll era has brought much success in non-conference play with Baylor enjoying a 254-66 mark in non-league play over the last 14+ years. Last season the Bears held a 20-4 record in such matches and so far this season they are 4-2.

WINNING AGAINST THE BEST: During Knoll's time in Waco, Baylor has played 332 ranked opponents with the Bears going 249-83 in those matches. This season the Bears have played or are currently scheduled to play 15 ranked teams and seven of the other nine schools inside the ITA preseason top 10. Last season, the Bears were 16-7 against teams in the ITA's rankings of the top 75 college teams. Baylor's best year against ranked foes came in 2005 when they went 29-1 against the nation's elite with the only loss coming to No. 6 in the NCAA €ˆTournament finals.

Quotes - Head Coach Matt Knoll

On the match:
"Mississippi State is great for us. It is a step up in competition from what we have had lately. They have a lot of good players. They are a very well coached team with a lot of talent. They are a team that is absolutely on the way up, so we know we are going to have our hands full. They have guys up and down that can absolutely beat us. It is going to be a good challenge for us."

On his doubles lineup:
"I feel that we have two doubles teams that are pretty established and we are going to keep playing around with that other team. I think it is going to move around some more. I kind of have a vision for where we are going to be at the end, but as we are getting to that point we are going to have to be patient and be flexible."

On the singles lineup:
"I think the SMU match was good for everybody, a good confidence builder. I think there was a couple of guys that had match-ups that were challenging for them, so I think that is going to help us. We will be a better team because of it."

On the progress of his team:
"We need to get better. We have a long way to go and we really have to focus on our own development and kind of make that the theme of what we are doing. We have made some good steps, but certainly we are going to need some more steps. These matches are part of the development process and we are excited to compete."