Jan. 12, 2012
WACO, Texas - Matt Knoll enters his 16th season as Baylor's men's tennis coach facing a challenge he's never faced before, a roster that includes five freshmen.
Knoll has had several inexperienced squads since his arrival in 1996, including two that featured four freshmen, but never has he fielded a team with five rookies. The last time Knoll had such a large freshman class, four in 2000-01, that group, highlighted by Reiner Neurohr and Matias Marin, proved to be the foundation that eventually helped lead the Bears to the 2004 NCAA team title.
Add a sophomore to the roster, coupled with two seniors and a junior, and you've got a very young team that is set on defending its Big 12 Conference title and aiming to advance to at least the NCAA Championship quarterfinals for the 10th year in a row. Even with so much inexperience, the cupboard is not bare. Most of the newcomers come to the program with impressive international credentials and experienced a highly-successful fall collegiate season. Obviously, those who follow collegiate tennis recognize the talent on Baylor's 2012 squad, as the Bears are ranked No. 5 in the initial ITA rankings.
Also adding to the leadership aspect of the roster is the fact that Knoll has two former players assisting him this season. Dominik Mueller moves up to the position of assistant coach after serving last year as the team's volunteer assistant and Michal Kokta begins his first season as a volunteer assistant.
Mueller spent four years (2007-10) playing for the Bears finishing with a school-record 96 dual-match wins. During his time as a student-athlete, the Bears won three Big 12 regular season titles, three Big 12 Championship crowns and made one NCAA semifinal and three NCAA quarterfinal appearances.
After an impressive four-year career as a student-athlete from 2004-07, Kokta moves into the coaching role as a volunteer assistant coach. Kokta, a 2007 Baylor graduate, returned to campus and is working toward a doctorate degree in mathematics while assisting with the men's program. He was the 2007 ITA South Central Region Senior Player of the Year, most outstanding performer at the 2007 Big 12 Championship, two-time All-Big 12 in singles and three-time All-Big 12 in doubles.
"It's definitely a youth movement," Knoll said. "You can feel a different level of enthusiasm than what we've had in the past. And I think some of that, frankly, is just due to their chronological age. You get a bunch of guys that are 18 or 19 and haven't been away from home, and it's just a little different. It's been fun for me, and I think it's perked everybody up and got everybody excited."
Two seniors and a junior return from last season's 22-5 Big 12 champion and NCAA Championship quarterfinal squad. Seniors Julian Bley (Veitschoechheim, Germany) and Kike Grangeiro (Brazilia, Brazil), along with junior Roberto Maytin (Valencia, Venezuela), will provide the six underclassmen with leadership for the 2012 season. As with most Baylor seniors, Bley sat out the fall semester while Grangeiro played only one match in the fall after suffering an eye injury last summer. In 2011, Maytin, Grangeiro and Bley played at four, five and six singles, while Maytin teamed with John Peers to earn 2011 doubles All-American honors. Maytin was 43rd in the ITA preseason singles ranking and gained valuable experience when he played in a Davis Cup tie against Paraguay this past summer. Maytin is ranked No. 54 in singles and No. 18 in doubles in the ITA's initial 2012 rankings.
The trio of Maytin, Grangeiro and Bley combined for 70 singles victories and 84 doubles in 2010-11. Maytin posted a 26-12 singles mark and was a school-record 39-7 in doubles, Grangeiro was 27-9 in singles and 23-9 in doubles, while Bley posted a 17-12 singles mark and was 22-11 in doubles. Sophomore Robert Verzaal (Shreveport, La.) saw limited action as a freshman, posting a 7-10 singles record and a 5-6 doubles mark. In fall action, Maytin was 9-3 while Verzaal was 2-5.
Knoll said the influx of freshmen will keep the Bears at a level that has seen them advance to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals for each of the last nine years.
"The biggest thing is they're athletic," Knoll said of the freshmen. "I believe the second thing is they love tennis. We've had a period now where we haven't been having team practice, and these guys just all show up every day. They're like gym rats, if you will. They want to be out here. When they're not supposed to be out here, they're out here. They just want to be around the courts and hitting balls. That's a wonderful situation to be in for a coach, to have guys that just love the game and want to get better."
Leading the freshman class will be Mate Zsiga, a 6-2 right-hander from Szeged, Hungary. Zsiga enjoyed an outstanding fall season, posting the team's best record with an 11-2 mark. He began the fall with a seven-match win streak which included a win over Maytin in the BU-HEB Invitational singles championship. Ranked as the No. 3 freshman nationally by the ITA, Zsiga posted wins over three ranked players and his only losses came against ranked opponents, Auburn's 70th-ranked Andreas Mies and Texas Tech's 11th-ranked Gonzalo Escobar. Zsiga is Baylor's highest-ranked player, checking in at No. 20 in the initial 2012 ITA listings.
Prior to enrolling at Baylor, the four-time Hungarian champion was the first from his country to win the European Junior Masters. Zsiga was ranked as high as No. 7 among junior players by International Tennis Federation.
Lars Behlen, a 6-4 freshman from Munster, Germany, posted the Bears' second-best fall record with an 8-3 mark. Two of his three losses came against ranked opponents, including Escobar. Behlen's pre-Baylor accolades include winning the Under 16 German National Championships and winning the Northern German Championship in under 15 singles and doubles. Behlen is ranked No. 52 in the initial 2012 ITA rankings.
Marko Krickovic finished fall play at 4-4. The 6-0 freshman from Ismaning, Germany, teamed with Maytin to win the BU-HEB Invitational doubles championship. The tandem posted a 5-2 record during fall play. In his native Germany, Krickovic was a German Champion in junior doubles and ranked as high as No. 77 in the German men's rankings and No. 2 in the junior rankings. Matyin and Krickovic are ranked No. 18 in doubles to begin the spring semester.
Diego Galeano, a right-hander from Asuncion, Paraguay, enrolled in Baylor in January and should make an immediate contribution to the team. The freshman has played in Davis Cup competition for his country and also played in junior tournaments at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.
Robbie Korth, a 6-7 freshman from Del Ray, Fla., saw limited action in the fall, posting an 0-2 mark.
The faces change every year. But the expectations are the same for a Baylor tennis team that is the reigning Big 12 champion and NCAA quarterfinalist.
"I believe your margins are always tighter when you've got younger guys," Knoll said. "The ironic thing is we had new guys last year, even though they were older. So it's a similar kind of challenge. But I believe the thing that's maybe a little different about this group is we had a full recruiting cycle with them. So they had more of a chance to feel the love for the program. They came in feeling a little more connected than a transfer would. And I believe the enthusiasm that they've brought in has been great."
As usual, Knoll has constructed a tough schedule, one that he feels will prepare his team for the rigors of Big 12 Conference play and NCAA Championship action. The team's 2011-12 schedule features nine opponents ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) final top 25.
"It is just another year where we are trying to play the most competitive schedule possible and it just so happens that we are going to be playing a lot of matches on the road," said Knoll. "There will be a stretch in the middle of the season where we will feel like an NBA team, playing one team and then having to pack up our bags and head to another state. We have a stretch where we will play matches in California, then we head to Tennessee, and finish up in Kentucky, but we are really looking forward to it and we believe it will help us prepare for the NCAA Tournament," he added.
