Men's Tennis Continues Big 12 Play
4/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
April 15, 2010
WACO, Texas - After its first conference win of the season on Sunday, the 11th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team will travel to the state of Oklahoma to take on 20th-ranked Oklahoma on Friday at 6 p.m. and No. 54 Oklahoma State on Sunday at 2 p.m.The Bears currently hold a 17-5 record overall with a 1-2 mark in conference play, after taking down No. 38 Nebraska, 4-3, at the Baylor Tennis Center on Sunday.
Live results for the Oklahoma match can be found here, while there will be no live scoring of the Oklahoma State contest.
CURRENT €ˆTEAM €ˆSTREAKS €ˆAND €ˆTRENDS: Overall, the Bears have won 32 of 38 matches dating back to last season, including 12 of their last 15. The Bears enter Friday's match looking to build upon their first win of the conference season. Prior to the win the Bears had lost two straight for the first time since dropping matches earlier in the year against Florida and Louisville on Feb. 12-13.
DOUBLES POINT STREAKS AND TRENDS: In their last match the Bears won the doubles point for just the fourth time in their last 10 matches. Knoll went with an altered lineup from what he had played in the first two conference matches moving the pairing of Sergio Ramirez and Maros Horny into the No. 3 spot. The duo responded by winning. For all three conference matches Denes Lukacs and Roberto Maytin have been the tandem at No. 1, while Julian Bley and Attila Bucko have manned the two spot. However, throughout the year the Bears have made numerous changes at those spots. Baylor is 14-0 in matches when winning the doubles point and just 3-5 when losing it.
SINGLES STREAKS AND TRENDS: Dominik Mueller and Denes Lukacs both enter Friday's match with two-match win streaks. The pair of seniors have led the Bears throughout the season with Lukacs playing all of his matches at the one position and Mueller playing primarily at the four and five spots.However the Bears' No. 2 and3 players, Jordan Rux and Attila Bucko, have struggled as of late with both players going 0-3 in the first three conference contests.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA: The Sooners (15-4, 1-2) enter Friday's contest sporting a three-match win streak with all the matches against teams ranked in the top-50. Oklahoma beat No.42 Rice on Sunday, April 11, 4-3, in Houston. In Big 12 play, the Sooners have lost matches at Texas A&M and Texas, 5-2 and 6-1, respectively, and beaten Oklahoma State in Stillwater, 6-1. At home this season at the Headington Family Tennis Center, Oklahoma is 7-0, but the Sooners haven't played a home match since March 7. However, Oklahoma will now close out the season with its final three conference matches at home. In his first year on the job, Oklahoma coach John Roddick has assembled a roster that includes two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and five freshmen.
SERIES RECORD: The Bears hold a 16-14 edge over the Sooners in the all-time series. Baylor has owned the matchup since the formation of the Big 12 and since the hiring of Matt Knoll with a 15-1 record against Oklahoma. The Bears currently own a 15-match win streak in the series with the only loss came in 1997 when the Bears lost in Waco to the Sooners, 4-3. Before Knoll's arrival the program was 1-14 against OU.
SCOUTING OKLAHOMA €ˆSTATE:The Cowboys (8-10, 0-4) will host the 16th-ranked Texas Tech Red Raiders on Friday night before playing the Bears on Sunday. In their last match out, the Cowboys upset in-state rival Tulsa, 4-3, on Wednesday to halt a two-match losing streak. In Big 12 play, the Cowboys have fallen to Texas, Texas A&M and Nebraska, all on the road, while losing to Oklahoma at home. Oklahoma State is 1-1 on the year at home at the Jack DeBois Tennis Complex. In his 37th-year at the helm of the Cowboys program, James Wadley has a roster that features a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and five freshmen.
SERIES RECORD: Baylor is 17-8 against the Cowboys since the series started in 1978. Since the Big 12 was formed the Bears have gone 12-3 against Oklahoma State. The Bears own a four-match win streak over the Cowboys with the last loss coming on February 15, 2008, in the first round of the National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Wash.
LOOKING AHEAD: Baylor will close out the regular season, after the two matches in Oklahoma, with a 6 p.m. Big 12 contest against No. 16 Texas Tech on Saturday, April 24 at the Baylor Tennis Center.
BAYLOR AGAINST BIG 12 CONFERENCE COMPETITION: Since the founding of the Big 12 Conference in 1996, the Bears have produced an 83-15 mark in league play, including a 53-4 record over the last eight years. In the 13 years, Baylor has won nine Big 12 regular season titles and seven Big 12 Championship titles. During that span, the Bears have finished with a perfect league record seven times. In the four times that they did not win the conference, the Bears finished second three times and eighth once.
BAYLOR ON THE ROAD IN THE BIG 12:In 13-plus years of Big 12 play, the Bears have gone 41-7 on the road. This season, the Bears fell in their only road contest at No. 12 Texas A&M on April 7, 6-1. The Bears have gone undefeated on the road in conference play nine times and over the last 11-plus seasons the Bears are 32-2 away from Waco in Big 12 competition.
Quotes: Head coach Matt Knoll:
On his team:
"We were a little bit beat up after last week. It was a tough week. It was a tough week on purpose. We knew it was going to be a big challenge for us and it sure was. It didn't go as well as we had hoped, but we are happy we were able to end the week with a win and hopefully build some momentum that way. There is a long way to go this season and we just got to keep working hard to get one day better every day and go up to Oklahoma and try to play some better tennis."
On what things his team has worked on this week:
"We really haven't changed anything except try to just relax and recognize that we are involved in a process. Sometimes things don't always go the way you would hope. Dealing with unexpected challenges or setbacks is part of the process sometimes. We have got to embrace that. Hopefully, it makes us better and I think it will. We have philosophy to play a great schedule and the Big 12 is the best it has ever been from top to bottom. We have taken a couple losses and hopefully that is going to make us better down the stretch."
On his singles lineup:
"I think over the course of a long season you have some guys that get hot and cool off at different times. We have a lot of confidence in the guys at every position and they have won big matches all year and we know they are going to win big matches down the stretch. We just have to keep working and ride out the rough spots and hopefully we can just stay on track and stay the course and have success."
On his doubles lineup:
"When you look at our record, we have been OK at two and three doubles, but we haven't been very good at one doubles. We are hopeful that we have got a No. 1 doubles team now. They had a good win this weekend. We think that Attila (Bucko) and Jordan (Rux) have played together and have had a certain level of success, so we are hopeful they can do well at two doubles. I think that team at three is a much more physical team that gives us a chance to be competitive. We feel like we are going to have great doubles done the stretch and hopefully we can get that started this weekend."
On Oklahoma:
"It is the best team they have had in a while. I honestly can't remember them being in the top 25, so I think that is a credit to their guys. They have got good talent there. They have got a good hard working coaching staff. They are going to compete super-hard. It is a big match at home for them and we are going to have our hands full."
On Oklahoma State:
"I think the thing you see with them is kind of what we have seen in the Big 12 - they have played some good matches against some good teams. They haven't had as good of season as they have traditionally had, but they do have arguably the best player in the country. He finished last year No. 1 and the guy is unbelievable. We have a ton of respect for him and they have a lot of guys that have had wins against the Baylor players that they have played before. We know we are going to have to be ready when we get to Stillwater too."
On the weekend:
"It is going to be a great weekend. We are going to be challenged and we are excited to see how it goes."
On what two wins this weekend would do for the team:
"At some stage we are going to have to start building some momentum. Hopefully that happened when we got through the Nebraska match the other night and hopefully we can build on that. There is still plenty of tennis to be played and still plenty to be accomplished out there. I think if we just focus on the process and work every day and stick together and stay positive we are going to be fine."
Players Mentioned
