Baylor
Oklahoma St
Baylor Men's Tennis Claims Big 12 Title
8/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 22, 2000
STILLWATER, Okla. - The No. 4-ranked Baylor men's tennis team won the 2000 Big 12 Conference title with a 5-2 win against No. 51 Oklahoma State on Satuday.
"What's really special about this is to see our seniors get to enjoy this moment," Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said. "Johann [Jooste], David [Hodge], and Johannes [Michalsky] all came in my first year, when we were at the bottom of the conference. We weren't in the top 75, we didn't make the NCAA's, and we lost really quickly at the Big 12 Tournament.
"We weren't competitive. It's special to see these guys go from that to being in this position, to see that their hard work and sacrifice paid off," Knoll said.
The Bears finished with the team's first-ever undefeated conference record at 8-0 and earned Baylor's second Big 12 title in any sport. The Baylor women's soccer team finished first in conference in 1998.
"I'm sure this win is something we'll appreciate more in the future," Knoll said. "Right now, we've got some more goals ahead of us. Our goal is to play for championships and to win championships. We've got the Big 12 Tournament and the NCAA Tournament coming up, we want to continue to put ourselves in positions to win these sorts of tournaments."
Pawel Gajdzik and Michalsky suffered Baylor's only losses. The Bears won their four singles points in straight sets and swept doubles. The doubles sweep was Baylor's 18th in 23 matches this year.
"We played better today," Knoll said. "This was a good team win. Again, we were good at doubles, which always gets us off to a good start."
The loss was Oklahoma State's first of the year at home.
The Bears leave Wednesday for the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. The tournament begins Friday.
Saturday, April 22
#4 Baylor (19-4, 8-0 Big 12) def. #51 Oklahoma State (11-7, 4-4 Big 12), 5-2
No. 1 No. 23 Johann Jooste, BU, def. Matt Prentice, OSU, 7-6(4), 7-5
No. 2 David Hodge, BU, def. Chris Bates, OSU, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 Eru Lyndon, OSU, def. Pawel Gajdzik, BU, 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 No. 65 Zoltan Papp, BU, def. Fran Krepelka, OSU, 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Jiri Jezek, OSU, def. Johannes Michalsky, BU, 0-6, 7-6, 6-1
No. 6 Mark Williams, BU, def. Jeremy Ewert, OSU, 6-3, 7-6 (4)
No. 1 No. 7 Hodge/Williams, BU, def. No. 53 Lyndon/Prentice, OSU, 8-5
No. 2 No. 45 Jooste/Gajdzik, BU, def. Bates/Krepelka, OSU, 8-3
No. 3 Papp/Michalsky, BU, def. Ewert/Jezek, OSU, 9-7
