April 14, 2003
WACO, Texas -
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#6 Baylor (20-1, 6-0) vs. #10 Texas A&M (20-6, 4-1)
vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (13-7)
Tues., April 15 at 6 p.m. - vs. Texas A&M - Waco - Baylor Tennis Center
Thurs., April 17 at 6 p.m. - vs. Texas A&M-CC - Waco - Baylor Tennis Center
The No. 6 Baylor men's netters close out their Big 12 and regular season schedule with two matches at home this week. The Bears can clinch their third Big 12 Championship in four years with a victory over league foe Texas A&M on Tuesday. A Baylor victory would give the Bears their second straight league title and second straight undefeated league mark. Baylor beat previously undefeated Texas on Friday in Austin to remain the league's only unbeaten team. Texas A&M, currently 20-6 on the season and 4-1 in league play, lost to Oklahoma State earlier in the season. The Aggies will face off with Texas on Saturday to close out Big 12 action for both teams.
Last season the Bears won the league championship at Texas A&M defeating the Aggies 4-3. Baylor also won the Big 12 Tournament title in College Station, downing the Aggies in the championship match 4-2.
The Aggies are paced by 19-th ranked Ryan Newport, a senior. Sophomore Lester Cook is ranked No. 39 and sophomore Ante Matijevic is ranked 47th nationally. The duo of Cook and Matijevic is ranked No. 5, while the tandem of Cook and Newport is No. 15. Newport and Khaled El Dorry are ranked No. 60.
Texas A&M leads the series with Baylor 22-5 but the Bears have won the last two and four of the last six matches.
The Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders come to Waco with a 13-7 record as an independent.The Islanders, currently ranked No. 62, are led by Christophe Berques, currently ranked No. 94. Last season the Bears posted a 7-0 victory over the Islanders in Waco.
Farewell Seniors...
Baylor's two seniors Zoltan Papp and Mike Garcia will be honored at Thursday's match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Papp, a native of Budapest, Hungary, currently ranks No. in career singles at Baylor with 96 wins. He also is No. 1 in career conference singes wins(26) and career dual match singles wins with 70. He is on track to become the program's best player percentagewise as well. He is currently 72-22 for a 76.6 winning percentage, Mark Williams (1998-2001) is currently No. 1 at 67.2 percent.
Garcia, a San Antonio native, has posted a 10-8 record in singles this season and is 10-7 in doubles this season.
