Jan. 28, 2009

Tournament Central

WACO, Texas - After two road matches to open their dual-match season, Baylor's 7th-ranked men's tennis team returns home to host a weekend of tennis as part of a National Indoor Qualifer. The Bears will face the 66th-ranked Utah Utes (3-0) on Friday, Jan. 26 at 3 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center and then either play No. 57 San Diego State or No. 58 ranked Georgia Tech.

"We are proud to be hosting the first and second round playoff of the National Team Indoors," head coach Matt Knoll said."It will be a super opportunity to get out there and get better."

The Bears, led by four ranked singles players, will put the team's three match home win streak on the line in this weekend's competition. 13th-ranked sophomore Jordan Rux Denes Lukacs, a junior, ranked at No. 21, , junior Attila Bucko at No. 40 and junior Dominik Mueller ranked at No. 72 will look to get back on track after a 7-0 loss last Sunday at Florida.

"We are going to have to play tougher," Knoll said. "I think that is going to be our goal for the rest of the year."

The Friday match-up with the Bears will be the first road test for Utah this season. The Utes have earned wins in their first three home matches, after defeating Eastern Washington, 6-1, Utah State, 5-1, and Weber State, 7-0.

Utah is currently undefeated in the No. 2, 4, 5, and 6 singles positions during dual-match play and is unbeaten in doubles, with a 9-0 record.

Utah is led by senior Wes Hancock, who posted a 7-3 record in singles during the fall and is 3-0 so far during the Utes' spring schedule.

Baylor is 0-1 all-time versus Utah, losing the only previous match in 1990. Baylor's Saturday opponent will be dependent on Friday's results as the Bears will either face No. 57 San Diego State (0-1) or No. 58 Georgia Tech (2-1). If Baylor wins against Utah, they will face the winner of SDSU vs. GT on Saturday at 4 p.m. If the Bears were to fall to Utah, Baylor would then face the loser of the aforementioned match on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The Aztecs fell 6-1 to No. 55 Hawai'i in their only match of the 2009 spring schedule.

The Bears are 0-1 all-time against San Diego State, losing to the Aztecs in 2000. Georgia Tech has begun its spring schedule with wins over USC Upstate, 5-2 and Wofford 7-0 before falling to the University of South Carolina, 5-2.

The Yellow Jackets are led by 14th-ranked sophomore Guillermo Gomez, who is 1-0 in the spring season and participated in the 2008 NCAA Singles Championship.

Baylor is 1-1 all-time versus Georgia Tech, winning a 2007 battle 6-1 in Waco and falling in a 1990 contest.

Schedule for the weekend:
Friday, January 30
Noon - Georgia Tech v. San Diego State
3 p.m. - Baylor v. Utah

Saturday, January 31
4 p.m. - Winners From Friday

Sunday, February 1
10 a.m. - Losers From Friday