Sept. 5, 2003

WACO, Texas - Matt Knoll, Baylor's director of tennis, welcomes three new staff members to the Bears' tennis program. Rob Cheyne will assist Knoll with the men's team while Rebekah Rhodes and Kim Niggemeyer will work with head women's coach Joey Scrivano.

All three coaches come to Baylor after stellar playing and academic careers at their respective schools. Cheyne and Niggemeyer are both graduates of Fresno State and Rhodes graduated from the University of Texas.

Rebekah (Forney) Rhodes comes to Baylor after a stellar career at the University of Texas. However, she's very familiar with Baylor since her sisters, Leigh Ann (1988-92) and Rachel (1989-93), were standouts on the Baylor women's team. Rhodes, who hails from New Braunfels, was a four-time Academic All-Big 12 selection and led the Longhorns to the Big 12 Conference championship in 2002. She was the tennis team's MVP that season and won the ITA Southwest Region Arthur Ashe Jr. Leadership and Sportsmanship Award. Over her four years, Rhodes posted an 80-40 singles record and was 76-33 in doubles. She received a degree in finance from Texas in 2002.

Niggemeyer, a native of Berlin, Germany, complied a 94-45 singles record during her four years at Fresno State. She never played lower than No. 1 as a sophomore, junior or senior. In doubles, playing primarily at No. 1 also, Niggemeyer was 87-32 over her four years. She earned All-American honors in singles in 2002 and in doubles in 2001 and 2002. In addition, Niggemeyer was a four-time Academic All-WAC recipient, three-time first-team all-WAC selection, 1999 WAC Freshman of the Year and WAC Player of the Year in 2000 and 2002. Niggemeyer is a 2003 graduate of Fresno State with a degree in psychology. She is pursuing a graduate degree at Baylor.

Rob Cheyne posted an 83-30 singles record during his four years at Fresno State and the Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament all four years, including two round of 16 appearances. His 83 wins ranks 11th all-time at Fresno State and his 32 victories his senior year which ranks as third-most for the program. The Wellington, New Zealand native, who represented his country in 2003 Davis Cup competition, was as impressive in the classroom as he was on the court. He was named a Fresno State Scholar-Athlete and Academic All-WAC multiple times. Cheyne graduated from Fresno State in 2000 with a degree in kinesiology.