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Jan. 31, 2003
WACO, Texas - #3 Baylor (2-0) vs. #31 SMU(1-2)
Saturday, February 1 - 1 p.m. - Baylor Tennis Center
The No. 3-ranked Baylor Bears handed host Mississippi State its first home opening loss in 17 seasons when they blanked the Bulldogs 7-0 at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday afternoon.
In doubles, Baylor's Benedikt Dorsch and Reiner Neurohr, playing at No. 3, gained a quick 8-2 victory. It wasn't quite as easy for Benjamin Becker and Zoltan Papp and Ivor Lovrak and Matias Marin. Becker and Papp, playing at No. 1, posted a 9-7 victory and Lovrak and Marin eeked out a 9-8(5) win.
In the sweep of singles, the bottom three positions posted quick two-set victories while the top three spots struggled, but prevailed in three sets each. Mississippi State claimed the first set at the top three positions and nearly took the first set at No. 4 as well before Papp prevailed. The Bears rallied for victory in all of those situations to close the door on any hope of a Mississippi State upset.
Baylor will now face long time rival No. 31 SMU. Last year's contest was the second upset posted by the men's tennis team. The then-No. 8 Mustangs were defeated 4-3 and the Bears' earned their first win over the Mustangs in three tries.
The men's tennis team will face one ranked singles player and two ranked doubles teams. Johan Brunstrom of SMU is currently tied for the No. 61 spot in the rankings, but also holds a doubles rankings of No. 33 with teammate Henrik Soderberg. The other duo ranked is No. 23 Eric Cohn and Gwinyai Chingoka.
The Bears take on the Mustangs Sat., Feb. 1 at the Baylor Tennis Center at 1 p.m. Results can be accessed at www.baylorbears.com
Team notes...
* The Bears' current No. 3 ranking is the team's highest preseason ranking ever.
* Baylor's mens tennis team reeled off a school-record 18 straight wins before seeing last season end in the round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament with a loss to the eventual national champion Southern California.
* The last time the Bears were ranked at the No. 3 position was on March 23, 1999.
* The 2002 campaign was the most successful in the program's history at 27-2.
* Zoltan Papp and Matias Marin received their highest singles rankings this year at No. 22 and No. 66, respectively.
* The Bears' conference schedule pits them against seven teams ranked in the top 30.
* Seven players are undefeated in dual match play this season, three with a 2-0 record(Lovrak,Neurohr, Becker) and four with a 1-0 record (Garcia, Marin, McLaren, Papp).
* Matias Marin is on a five-match winning streak and has moved up to fifth on the all-time career singles wins list with 72. In addition, teammate Benjamin Becker jumps up to the No. 7 spot with his 55 career singles wins.
* Newcomers No. 1 Benedikt Dorsch (23-2) and No. 97 Ivor Lovrak (20-7) are already 20-match winners.
