April 7, 2004
DALLAS - Baylor junior Benjamin Becker of Orscholz, Germany, BU freshman Carolin Walter of Bingen, Germany, Colorado junior Kendra Strandemo of Encinitas, Calif., and Texas A&M senior Jessica Roland of Hollywood, Calif., have been selected as Big 12 Conference Co-Men's and Women's Tennis Players of the Week for matches from Mar. 30-Apr. 5, 2004, the conference office announced Tuesday. Becker continues to dominate opponents for the No. 2 nationally Bears' men's team after singles victories last week over No. 9 Ante Matijevic of Texas A&M 6-3, 6-3 and No. 41 Alex Menichini of TCU 6-2, 6-3 in addition to a straight sets' triumph over Nebraska's Jorge Barthel 6-1, 6-2. He also joined Matias Marin for wins over key doubles opponents from TCU and A&M as the Bears advanced to 19-2 overall and 4-0 in the Big 12. The junior standout needs one more singles win to tie Zotlan Papp with 99 for the BU career singles record.
Walter was equally impressive in winning her singles point and sending the Lady Bears to a crucial doubles marker in a 5-2 verdict over intrastate rival SMU. She defeated Svetlana Kouzmenko of the Mustangs 6-3, 7-6(2) and then teamed with Daria Potapova for a 9-7 victory at No. 1 doubles. Strandemo, the 2003 Big 12 No. 4 singles champion, tallied the only point in Colorado's 6-1 loss to No. 14 and co-conference-leading Texas A&M. She downed seasoned Robert Spencer of the Aggies 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 as Strandemo raised her No. 3 singles record to 7-2 overall (5-2 in the conference). Roland again won both her singles matches at No. 1 for the Aggies, who are 7-0 in Big 12 dual match team play. She stopped Texas Tech's Irina Tereschenko 7-6(4), 7-5 and Colorado's Lynzee Kever 7-6(3), 5-7, 1-0(6) and later raised her all-time doubles tally at Texas A&M to 93-52. That broke the school standard for career doubles wins of 92 by Nancy Dingwall of the Aggies and was Roland's 13th consecutive victory in doubles.
2004 Season Winners Men/Women
Feb. 10 - Benedikt Dorsch, BU,/(co) Maria Rosenberg, KSU; Jessica Roland, A&M
Feb. 17 - Matias Marin, BU/Lynzee Kever, CU
Feb. 24 - Mohamed Dakki, A&M/(co) Mary Barry, MU; Jessica Roland, A&M
Mar. 2 - Jakob Paulsen, TT/Katie Ruckert, UT
Mar. 9 - Benedikt Dorsch, BU/Jessica Roland, A&M
Mar. 16 - Mark Van Elden, OSU/Katja Kovacic, TT
Mar. 23 - Benjamin Becker, BU/(co) Morgan Sall, CU; Jessica Roland, A&M
Mar. 30 - (co) Daniel Byrnes, OSU; Mark Van Elden, OSU/Christine Skoda, KU
Apr. 7 - Benjamin Becker, BU/(tri) Carolin Walter, BU; K. Strandemo, CU; Roland, A&M
