Sept. 12, 2005

WACO, Texas - The ITA has selected four members of the Baylor men's tennis team to compete in the Polo Ralph Lauren Men's All-American Tennis Championships to be hosted by the University of Tulsa, Oct. 6-9. The tournament has been an annual event since 1979.

Sophomore No. 25 Lars Poerschke received an automatic spot in the main draw of the 64-player and 32-doubles team tournament field. Poerschke also earned a spot in the main doubles draw along with partner Matija Zgaga. The team holds the No. 18 spot in ITA preseason rankings.

Three Bear's were also selected to participate in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. In singles, No. 63 Michal Kokta and No. 101 Matija Zgaga will compete for spots in the main draw. The No. 48 doubles team of Kokta and Vladimir Portnov will also play for a chance to advance into the main draw of the tournament.

The main draw will include the top eight doubles teams from the qualifying rounds and the top 16 players in the singles qualifying rounds which will be played Oct. 3-5 in Tulsa.

Past participants in the tournament have included players making headlines at the U.S. open this week. James Blake won the title as a sophomore at Harvard in 1998 and doubles finalists Bob and Mike Bryan competed in the 1997 championships while at Stanford.

For a complete selection field, visit www.itatennis.com.