Men's Tennis Taking Quartet To ITA Qualifier
10/22/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
Oct. 22, 2009
WACO, Texas - The Baylor men's tennis team will send four players to compete in the Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championships at the George P. Mitchell Tennis Center in College Station, Oct. 24-27.
There are 13 schools in the state of Texas that are sending participants to the event. The singles and doubles champions from the Wilson/ITA South Central Region Championships will advance to the 2009 ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships to be held on Nov. 5-8 at Yale University in New Haven, Conn.
Bears participating in the tournament include senior Attila Bucko, junior Jordan Rux, sophomore Julian Bley, and sophomore Maros Horny.
Bucko (Wellington, Fla.) will be one of eight nine-seeds in the tournament. In fall action so far, Bucko has amassed a 5-4 record in three tournaments. The lefty is currently ranked 85th in the ITA preseason rankings. Last year at the South Central Regional, Bucko had a bye and won two matches before falling to Conner Pollock of Texas A&M 6-4, 6-4 in round of 16 action.
"Attila has had some nice wins and some disappointing losses," men's tennis coach Matt Knoll said. "We feel like he is making improvements and we are excited to see him make a little move forward. We feel like he has been a very good college player and can challenge to win this tournament."
Rux (Kerrville, Texas) will be the fourth-seed for the singles tournament. During fall action Rux has put up a 7-1 mark including a singles title at the HEB Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational on Sept. 27. The junior is slotted at No. 27 in the preseason listings, but knocked off the No. 1 player in those same rankings, Olkesandr Nedovyesov of Oklahoma State, in route to the Intercollegiate title. Last year at this ITA qualifier, Rux advanced to the quarterfinals before falling to Raony Carvalho of Texas Tech.
"Jordan is playing at a higher level and he may be one of the favorites in the tournament," Knoll said. "If he is to attain his goals this year this is the kind of event he needs to do well in. I think he will be tough to beat."
Bley (Veitshoechheim, Germany) will be one of eight nine-seeds in the tournament as well. The sophomore has posted a 3-4 record in three tournaments this fall. Bley is listed as the 113th best player in the preseason rankings. Last year at the South Central Regional, Bley lost his first round match, but then went 1-1 in consolation play.
Horny (Zlate Moravce, Slovakia) will be one of six 17-seeds. The sophomore is 3-2 in two tournaments this fall. Horny is unranked and did not participate in the Regional last year.
"Attila, Julian and Maros are all three good enough that on a given day they can beat anybody in the draw," Knoll said. "This is a great opportunity for them in terms of their position in college tennis."
Besides the four singles competitors, the Bears will have two doubles teams in the tournament. The duo of Rux and Horny are the second seed in the regional. On the fall season, they are 4-0 and won the HEB Baylor Intercollegiate Invitational doubles title. The tandem is ranked No. 25 in the preseason ITA listings. Bucko and Bley will make up Baylor's other pair at the regional. The two Bears are 0-1 when partnered together this season.
First serve on Saturday, Oct. 24, and Sunday, Oct. 25, is scheduled for 8:30 a.m., while the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Monday, Oct. 26, and the finals on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
Baylor, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Rice, SMU, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, UT Arlington, UT Pan American and UTSA are among the 13 regional schools who have participants competing in this weekend's tournament.
Tournament draws and results can be viewed here for this week's matches.
Live video streaming will be available via a link on www.AggieAthletics.com.
Players Mentioned
