Men's Tennis to Take on Alabama in NCAA Round of 16
5/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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May 12, 2003
WACO, Texas -
#3 Baylor (27-1) Advances to Round of 16
Bears to take on #16 Alabama
NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championships
May 17-20 - Dan Magill Tennis Complex
University of Georgia - Athens, Ga.
With their 4-0 victory over TCU in the second round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championships, the Baylor Bears have advanced to the round of 16 for the fourth time in the last five years. The Bears are 1-2 in round of 16 matches. They beat Stanford (4-3) in 1999, lost TCU (4-1) in 2000 and lost to eventual national champion USC (4-2) in 2002. Baylor advanced to the second round after nipping UT-Arlington, 4-3, in first round action then downing #24 TCU, 4-0.
The Bears have won a school-record tying 18 straight matches this season, the Bears also won 18 in a row last season when they finished with a 27-1 record. In addition, the Bears have tied the program's record for most victories in a season, also set last season.
Two Baylor players have impressive winning streaks going. Freshman Ivor Lovrak is undefeated in dual match play at 20-0, he is 38-7 on the season. Lovrak's last loss came on Nov. 11 when he was defeated by 97-th ranked Francis Huot of Virginia Tech. Sophomore Benjamin Becker has won 11 straight matches, is 20-1 in dual match play and 28-7 overall this season. His last loss was to Kentucky's 10th-ranked Jessie Witten on March 9. Baylor's doubles tandem of Benedikt Dorsch and Reiner Neurohr is riding an 11-match winning streak. The duo hasn't lost since March 16 when Oklahoma State's Kuharic and Diaz beat them 9-7.
This is the Bears' sixth straight NCAA Tournament appearance, all six have come since the arrival of head coach Matt Knoll. The string of consecutive appearances began in 1998. Baylor's No. 2 seed is the program's highest-ever NCAA Team Championships seed, their previous high was No. 5 in 2000.
NCAA Tournament
Dan Magill Tennis Complex
University of Georgia - Athens, Ga.
Round of 16
Saturday, May 17 - all times listed as central daylight time
8 a.m.
#2 Florida vs. #14 Texas - Henry Feild Stadium Courts
#5 UCLA vs. #25 Oklahoma State - McWhorter Courts
11 a.m.
#3 Baylor vs. #16 Alabama - Henry Feild Stadium Courts (4,500)
#6 Vanderbilt vs. #10 Texas A&M - McWhorter Courts
2 p.m.
#1 Illinois vs. #12 Washington - Henry Feild Stadium Courts
#9 Duke vs. #8 Mississippi - McWhorter Courts
5 p.m.
#7 California vs. #22 Ohio State - Henry Feild Stadium Courts
#4 Stanford vs. #15 Tulane - McWhorter Courts
# = national ranking, not tournament seed
Live Scoring On the Web...
The University of Georgia will provide live scoring of all team and individual matches throughout the 2003 Championships. There will be a link to the live scoring off of Baylor's home page - www.baylorbears.com. On the right side of Baylor's home page, look for the "Live Coverage" box and click on men's tennis.
Baylor in the NCAA Tournament...
The Bears are 9-5 in NCAA Tournament play. Their highest finish was in 1999 when they reached the quarterfinals but were eliminated, 4-3, by host Georgia.
Baylors' NCAA Tournament breakdown:
First round - 4-2
Second round - 4-0
Round of 16 - 1-2
Quarterfinals - 0-1
Semifinals - 0-0
Finals - 0-0
Alabama Notes...
Alabama - The Alabama Crimson Tide advanced to the round of 16 with road victories over Marist (4-0) and host Harvard (4-0). The Crimson Tide, currently ranked No. 16, is 19-9 on the season. Alabama is a veteran team, 10 members of their 12-man roster are juniors and seniors. Alabama head coach Billy Pate, a 1992 graduate of Mississippi State, is in his first season at Alabama. Maxim Belski, a native of Minsk, Belarus, is ranked No. 72 and junior Chris Goltek (Maple, Ontario) is ranked No. 112.
