March 29, 2011

WACO, Texas - Senior John Peers was named the Big 12 Tennis Player of the Week for his play in Baylor's two victories over the past week, league officials announced Tuesday.

The Melbourne, Australia, native, went 2-0 in singles action from March 21-27 as the Bears defeated No. 8 Stanford, 5-2, and then took down No.17 Texas Tech, 4-3.

Against the Cardinal, Peers downed defending NCAA singles champion and 10th-ranked Bradley Klahn in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(4). The victory secured the clinching fourth point in the contest to lead the Bears to their 11th-straight win against Stanford.

In the conference opener at Texas Tech, Peers revenged a fall season loss to Gonzalo Escobar by beating the Red Raider, ranked 18th nationally, 6-1, 6-4.

Currently, Peers is listed at No. 18 in the ITA singles rankings with a 12-3 mark in dual match play and a 24-8 record overall in singles competition.

In doubles action Peers went 1-1, including an 8-3 win over the 26th-ranked duo of Raony Carvalho and Rafael Garcia of TTU. He and partner Roberto Maytin are 11-2 in dual-match play and 24-5 overall, including a 9-4 mark against ranked foes. The tandem is ranked No. 7 in the ITA doubles listings.

Baylor has now been awarded the season's first two Player of the Week honors as junior Julian Bley was recognized last week. It's the first time a pair of Bears have received the award in consecutive weeks since Benjamin Becker (April 7), Benedikt Dorsch (April 13) and Matias Marin (April 20) were honored for three straight weeks in 2004.

It is the first-ever Big 12 honor for Peers, who transferred to BU from Middle Tennessee State before the start of the 2010 fall season.

The 11th-ranked Bears will be back in action as they travel to No. 39 Nebraska on Saturday for their second conference match. First serve in Lincoln, Neb. is scheduled for 3 p.m. Baylor is 12-3 on the season and has won four straight matches.