April 6, 2009
Waco, TX- The seventh-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will return to the Baylor Tennis Center Wednesday for a Big 12 showdown with No. 14 Texas A&M at 6 p.m.
"It clearly is an important match," Baylor head coach Matt Knoll said. "They have played very, very well the last month or so and arguably have been the hottest team in the conference. We are going to really have to play well, because we are going to have our hands full."
The Bears hold an 18-5 dual match record, and are 14-1 at the Baylor Tennis Center this season. Baylor has also won 12 of its last 14 matches overall and is currently on a seven-match win streak. The Bears are also 3-0 in Big 12 conference play.
"We clearly like playing here rather than elsewhere," Knoll said. "You get to go to class, you get to sleep in your own bed, you get to eat your own food, you get to be around your people and it is an advantage."
In their last match out Baylor defeated the 49th-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers, 4-3, on Saturday, April 4 in Lincoln. The win was only the second victory for Baylor this season while playing indoors in five chances.
In Big 12 play so far, the Bears have cruised by No. 48 Oklahoma, 6-1 on March 4 at the Baylor Tennis Center and dominated No. 11 Texas, 6-1, in Austin on April 2, before edging Nebraska Saturday. Baylor has won the doubles point in all three of those matches with its No. 1 doubles pairing of David Galic and Jordan Rux sporting a 3-0 mark. In singles' play junior Denes Lukacs has recorded a perfect 3-0 record while playing at the No. 1 position. After hosting Texas A&M, Baylor will travel to Lubbock to face Texas Tech on April 14, before hosting Oklahoma State to close out Big 12 play on April 19.
The Bears have won eight Big 12 Conference regular season titles, including seven straight. The Bears are 79-13 in 12-plus seasons of Big 12 play and over the past seven-plus seasons, Baylor has posted a 48-2 league record.
In doubles' play the Bears have a 39-27 record in dual match competition this season. In their last match the Bears went with the duo of David Galic and Jordan Rux at No. 1 doubles. The pair is ranked 74th in the country and is 8-4, after winning eight of its last nine matches. At No. 2 doubles freshman Maros Horny and junior Denes Lukacs have partnered together for a 9-5 record this spring. In No. 3 doubles, Julian Bley and Dominik Mueller have posted a 7-3 record.
"We recognized early we weren't very good in doubles," Knoll said. "We got in there and started working on it some and it took a while to catch on, but now we have really improved in doubles a ton."
In singles, ITA All-American and seventh-ranked Lukacs has led the Bears to a 91-41 mark in dual match competition. The junior is 16-3 and riding a 10-match win streak with all of his matches coming at the No. 1 singles slot. At the No. 2 singles position 44th-ranked Rux has an 11-8 record. In the last two matches Mueller, a junior, has played at the No. 3 spot, and has a 15-5 record this spring. Mueller has won eight matches in a row. At the fourth slot junior Attila Bucko is 13-6. For the last two matches senior Galic has occupied the No. 5 position in the Bears lineup with a 6-4 record overall. At No. 6, Horny is 16-5 on the season and has won six of his last seven matches.
"We generally have been able to generate nine tough spots," Knoll said. "We have competed well and I think that is important. Up and down we have to be able to get into the matches and compete well and if you do that at all of the spots generally speaking you come out with enough wins to get to the finish line."
The 14th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies come into Wednesday's match up with a 12-5 record and the winners of seven straight matches. The Aggies last loss was a 4-3 defeat at the hands of No. 5 Ohio State on March 13 in College Station.
"These matches with the other Texas schools are always big, kind of our traditional rival in all sports," Knoll said. "We'd sure like to have a home court advantage. Hopefully we will have a ton of folks and fill the place up and make it a great atmosphere for both teams."
The Aggies also have a perfect 3-0 record in Big 12 play after beating No. 33 Texas Tech, 5-2 on April 3, No. 29 Oklahoma State, 4-3 on March 29, and No. 41 Oklahoma, 5-2 on March 27.
The Bears and Aggies met twice last season with Baylor taking both contests. During the conference season the Bears dropped No. 20 A&M, 6-1, in College Station on April 2 and then in a NCAA Regional held in Waco on May 11 Baylor dispatched of the 25th-ranked Aggies, 4-2.
The Bears are 15-30-1 all-time versus the Aggies, but since 1999 Baylor has owned the series winning 14 of the schools' 17 meetings. Since Matt Knoll took over at Baylor in 1997 the Bears are 14-5 versus A&M. Before a win in 1999, the Bears had lost 12 straight contests against the Aggies dating back to 1987.
The Aggies have three ranked players: No. 19 Connor Pollock, who is 10-7 this season at the No. 1 singles' slot, No. 30 Wil Spencer, who is 8-6 playing in both the second and third spots, and No. 51 Austin Krajicek, who is 13-4 splitting time with Spencer between No. 2 and 3.
"You look at their singles and those top three guys particularly have been outstanding," Knoll said. "Their talent level is really high. All are guys are going to be pushed and are going to have to play their best tennis to have a chance."
Pollock and Krajicek, 14-3 on the season, but just 1-2 in Big 12 play, partner together to form the third-ranked doubles team in the country.
"Their No.1 doubles team has been pretty dominant," Knoll said. "It is hard to be top five in the country and be anything less. We are going to have to play a great match to win."
Live stats for the Texas A&M match can be found on Baylorbears.com.
The Baylor Athletic Marketing staff will be giving away Growl Towels to the first 250 fans in attendance and it is also $1 hotdog night at the Baylor Tennis Center.
