Men's Tennis Hosts No. 10 Stanford
3/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 22, 2005
WACO, Texas - The top-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will host No. 10 Stanford Wednesday at the Baylor Tennis Facility. Baylor is 16-0 this season, 4-0 in conference, while Stanford enters the match at 9-4.
The meeting marks the fourth of the like for these two teams and is the first meeting in Waco. The Bears defeated the Cardinal all-three times these teams have played. Baylor's last win came March 22, 2004 in a 5-2 win at Stanford.
"It's special for us to have the best program in our sport visit us in Waco," Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said of Wednesday's match. "It's a wonderful opportunity for our fans to see two programs that are trying to do the same thing."
Baylor has four individuals that rank as the nation's top singles players. Senior Benedikt Dorsch claimed the No. 1 spot for the second time this season in Tuesday's rankings. Fellow senior Benjamin Becker, who won the NCAA singles tournament in 2004, ranks 49th and is 15-4 this season.
Newcomers No. 17 Lars Poerschke and No. 89 Vladimir Portnov round out the singles rankings for the Bears. Poerschke holds a team-best 27 wins, and has won four straight. He is 7-3 in the third court for Baylor and is 4-0 in Big 12 action.
Portnov made the elite list for the first time in his collegiate career Tuesday. The youngster is 12-6 overall and is 8-3 in his spot on the No. 6 court.
Three doubles pairs retained rankings on the doubles list. Matija Zgaga and Dorsch claimed the No. 5 spot Tuesday and is the highest ranking by a Baylor duo all season. Michal Kokta and Poerschke slipped to No. 44 after having dropped two of the last four.
As for Stanford, senior Sam Warburg headlines the singles lineup. Warburg grabbed the No. 2 spot in Tuesday's rankings behind Baylor's Dorsch. The two will meet in the No. 1 singles court on Wednesday.
In-match scoring will be available at baylorbears.com. Match time on Wednesday is set for 6 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Facility.
Players Mentioned
