WACO, Texas- After sweeping a four-match home stand the 16th-ranked men's tennis team will take their five-match win streak on the road to face eighth-ranked UCLA on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. (PT) in Los Angeles and No. 24 Pepperdine on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT). in Malibu, Calif.
Live results for Thursday's match can be found here courtesy of UCLABruins.com.
Live results for Saturday's match can be found here courtesy of Pepperdinesports.com.
LAST TIME OUT: The Bears dispatched junior college foe Laredo Community College, 7-0, on Tuesday at the Baylor Tennis Center. It was the Bears first match in 10 days, but they had no rust as Baylor swept the doubles contests and won all of the singles matches in straight sets.
BAYLOR IN THE GOLDEN STATE: In 22 matches in California during the Matt Knoll era, Baylor is 13-9. The Bears played no matches in the nation's most populated state in 2009, but Baylor was only 1-3 in 2008 with losses to USC, UCLA and Pepperdine and a win against Stanford. Baylor's best trip west came in the 2006 campaign when the Bears went 6-2 in matches played in California.
CURRENT STREAKS AND TRENDS: Overall, the Bears have won 25 of 28 matches dating back to last season, including five in a row. It is Baylor's second five-match win streak of the season after starting the year with five straight victories. Baylor is 10-0 when winning the doubles point and 0-2 when losing it. Senior Denes Lukacs has won 29 of his last 33 matches overall, which includes a 10-0 start to this dual match season. Senior Dominik Mueller has won 10 of 11 to start the dual match season.
BAYLOR IN THE RANKINGS: In rankings released by the ITA on March 9, Baylor dropped from No. 14 to No. 16 as a team. The Bears have been ranked as high as No. 5 in the country in the Feb. 12 edition of the rankings. Individually, Baylor is represented in the singles rankings by Denes Lukacs at No. 22 and Jordan Rux at No. 28. The Bears have three doubles tandems in the current rankings as Rux partners with Maros Horny to be the 17th-ranked pairing. Horny is also teamed with Lukacs to make up the 59th-ranked duo, while Julian Bley and Attila Bucko are currently ranked 45th.
SCOUTING UCLA: The Bruins enter Thursday's match sporting a 7-3 record after beating No. 33 Duke, 4-3, on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. UCLA has lost twice this season to cross-town rival USC and once to nationally-ranked Tennessee. Overall, Billy Martin's squad has won four of its last five. Martin, in his 17th season as UCLA head coach, has the 2005 NCAA title to his credit.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: The Bruins have four singles players ranked in the March 2 ITA rankings led by Haythem Abid at No. 40. He is followed by No. 50 Matt Brooklyn, No. 92 Amit Inbar and No. 118 Nick Meister. UCLA also had two doubles teams ranked, as Abid and Meister checked in at No. 55, followed by Brooklyn and Kallim Stewart at No. 57.
SERIES RECORD: The Bears hold a 5-2 series lead over the Bruins in a rivalry that dates back to Baylor's championship season in 2004 when the Bears beat UCLA twice, once in the regular season and then a 4-0 win in the NCAA Championship title match. In summary, the Bears and Bruins have met seven times in the last six year with five of the seven matches resulting in a 4-3 score. Baylor is 2-1 in California, 1-1 in neutral site meetings and 2-0 at the Baylor Tennis Center against the Bruins.
LAST TIME AGAINST UCLA: On Feb. 22, 2009, the 12th-ranked Bears and the sixth-ranked Bruins met in Waco with Baylor outlasting UCLA, 4-3. The win was Baylor head coach Matt Knoll's 300th career victory during his 14-year coaching career.
SCOUTING PEPPERDINE: The Pepperdine men are currently 5-5, but sport a 3-1 home record this season. Three of the losses came to top five teams, and all five have been to top 30 teams. Adam Steinberg is in his eighth year at the helm of the Pepperdine program and is just four years removed from winning the 2006 NCAA Championship. The Waves will face Duke on Wednesday before playing Baylor on Saturday.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Senior Bassam Beidas, who is ranked No. 90 by the ITA, has a 19-6 overall record in 2009-10. Freshman Sebastian Fanselow is ranked No. 120 by the ITA and is 17-5 overall and 7-3 in dual match play.
SERIES RECORD: Baylor owns an 8-4 record against Pepperdine in a series that dates back to 1999 when Baylor took a 4-3 win in Malibu, Calif. The two teams did not meet in 2000, but have played at least one match every year since then. Baylor has won seven of the last nine meetings, in part due to last season's two match sweep of Pepperdine. The Bears are 2-3 in Malibu, 2-0 in neutral site meetings and 4-1 against the Waves in Waco. Seven of the 12 matches between the two schools have been decided by one point.
LAST TIME AGAINST PEPPERDINE: The 10th-ranked Bears got past the No. 18 Waves, 4-1, on March 29, 2009, at the Baylor Tennis Center. After Baylor lost the doubles point, the Bears quickly responded with four straight singles wins to shut down the Waves. The win closed out a season-long nine-match home stand for the Bears with Baylor going 8-1. It was Baylor's last match before conference play began.
WINNING AGAINST THE BEST: The Matt Knoll era has seen Baylor play 321 ranked opponents with the Bears going 236-86 in those matches. Last season the Bears were 20-6 against teams in the ITA's rankings of the top 75 college teams. Baylor's best year against ranked foes came in 2005 when it went 29-1 against the nation's elite with the only loss coming to No. 6 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament finals.
BAYLOR AGAINST TOP 10 TEAMS: During Matt Knoll's 13+ years at Baylor, the Bears are 37-36 all-time against teams ranked in the top 10. This season Baylor has yet to face an opponent in the top 10, but last season Baylor was 3-5 against such opponents. The Bears best year against top 10 competition came in 2005 when they went 10-1 in such contests.
OWNING NON-CONFERENCE OPPOSITION: The Knoll era has brought success in non-conference play with Baylor sporting a 240-65 mark in non-league play over the last 13+ years.
LOOKING AHEAD: After its California road trip, Baylor will return home to host TCU on March 17, at 6 p.m. It marks the second meeting between the Bears and the Horned Frogs this season as Baylor took the first match, 7-0, on Feb. 1. From there the Bears will travel to Virginia to face the No. 1 ranked Virginia Cavaliers on March 21, at 1 p.m.
Quotes- Head Coach Matt Knoll
On the road trip...
"We are getting a lot of good tennis in the next several weeks and this is the first step in it. It is a huge challenge to play at UCLA. It is almost impossible to win there, and Pepperdine is also incredibly difficult. Those are two very, very good teams that we have played year in and year out, so we know their personnel pretty well. We know they are going to be pretty tough. I think it is a challenge we need now. We are going to go out and see how we do and hopefully we can compete well and have a chance to win."
On his team...
"I certainly think we are fresh. We haven't played that much in the last month. I think we are pretty hungry. We are eager to play, so hopefully those things will pay off for us."
On the UCLA match...
"We lost 4-3 last time we went out there. We know they have great guys at every single spot. I think our guys are really looking forward to the challenge to see how we do."
On dropping two spots in the ITA team rankings to No. 16...
"I think when you look at what's going on, we are just really under-played. They are counting a certain number of wins and we just don't have that many matches against ranked teams at this stage. I think it is maybe the best possible place to be, because we have kind of fallen out of the national conversation. I still think we are very, very good. I am excited, I am going to print it out and put it on my wall and see how high we can climb. If we keep doing what we have been doing we are going to be fine."
WACO, Texas- The 14th-ranked men's tennis claimed its 10th win of the season with a 7-0 sweep of Laredo Community College Tuesday afternoon at the Baylor Tennis Center.
"We were challenged," head coach Matt Knoll said. "They have good players and I think our guys had to do a good job of concentrating. It really helped a few guys. I thought it was good for everybody."
The win gives the Bears (10-2) their second five-match win streak of the year, after starting the season 5-0 and raises their home win streak to 15 matches. It was the eighth time that Baylor has swept an opponent this season, after only blanking 10 foes all of last season.
In doubles, Baylor's third team of Julian Bley and Attila Bucko sprinted out to a 7-0 lead over Guilherme Narducci and Luis Rovira, before losing two points. However, the 45th-ranked duo then responded to win the match 8-2 and move their record to 6-1 in spring play. At the No. 2 doubles position Denes Lukacs and Roberto Maytin dispatched of Leury Arias and Antoine Raffaelli, 8-3 to give Baylor the doubles point. The 17th-ranked duo of Jordan Rux and Maros Horny closed out the doubles portion of the contest by beating Cledson Carvalho and Felipe Baptista, 8-3. Lukacs and Maytin are now 4-0 in dual match play, while Rux and Horny are 4-1.
"I thought we were a little flat coming out in one and two doubles," Knoll said. ""The third doubles team got out of the gate a lot better. Those guys seem to be playing with a pretty good spirit. They are one of those funny teams that just play way better in matches than they do in practice, which is a pretty good way to do things."
In singles, Dominik Mueller made quick work of Rovira, 6-0, 6-0 to give Baylor a second point and up his dual match record to 10-1. Maytin was the next Bear off the court as he dropped Arias 6-1, 6-2 for his fifth win as a Bear against only two losses. Horny clinched the match for Baylor at the No. 5 position as he beat Mateus Campos 6-2, 6-0 to raise his spring record to 7-2.
"Roberto (Maytin) stands out the most," Knoll said. "That is probably the most complete match he has played in terms of concentrating from beginning to end. "Dom (Dominik Mueller) can be tough on a day that you don't want to work real hard. He concentrates well and he was able to do his thing out there."
With the match in hand, Bley beat Baptista 6-3, 6-1, the 22nd-ranked Lukacs dropped Carvalho 6-4, 6-2, and Bucko dispatched of Raffaelli 6-4, 6-4.
Laredo CC falls to 5-4 on the year, while Baylor improves to 2-0 all-time versus the Palominos.
The Bears will now travel to California to face eighth-ranked UCLA on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. (PT) and then No. 24 Pepperdine on Saturday at 2 p.m. (PT).
Match Notes: It was the 400th match of Matt Knoll's career at Baylor. In that time he has produced a 322-78 (.805) record. Jordan Rux did not play singles for only the second time this season after playing last weekend in the USTA Futures Tournament in McAllen, Texas. Lukacs raised his record to 10-0, while Mueller has won nine straight matches. Knoll also raised his non-conference record at Baylor to 240-65 in 13+ years.
Release Note: This release uses Baylor's ITA team ranking from March 2. During the match new ITA team rankings were released. Baylor is now ranked No. 16, however for this match the Bears were the 14th-ranked team in the country. The UCLA and Pepperdine rankings reflect the March 9 edition of rankings.
LINK:http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-...030910aab.html
WACO, Texas- The 14th-ranked Baylor men's tennis team (9-2) will play the final match of a four-match homestand on Tuesday when it hosts Laredo Community College (4-4) at 2 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center.
This season the Bears are 8-0 at home and will look to run their home win streak to 15 matches dating back to last season. Currently, Baylor is on a four-match win streak. Tuesday's contest will be the first match for Baylor in 10 days.
Live results of the match will be available on BaylorBears.com
SCOUTING LCC: The Palominos come into Tuesday's match with a 4-4 record after winning their last three matches. On Saturday, March 6 Laredo beat both Seminole State College and Temple Junior College in Temple. Laredo Community College started the year off with a win over the University of the Incarnate Word on Oct. 23, but then the Palominos dropped four straight matches. Laredo CC has been swept this season by Texas and Texas A&M. Laredo has also beaten Trinity University this season . LCC is currently slotted as the No. 2 team in the NJCAA National Team rankings released on Nov. 6, 2009. The Palominos have won the NJCAA men's tennis championship title for the past five years.
SERIES RECORD: The Bears and the Palominos have only met once prior to Tuesday's contest. On March 29, 2008, Baylor took a 5-2 win over LCC in Waco.
CURRENT TREAKS AND TRENDS: Overall, the Bears have won 24 of 27 matches dating back to last season. Baylor is 9-0 when winning the doubles point and 0-2 when losing it this season. Senior Denes Lukacs has won 28 of his last 32 matches overall, which includes an 9-0 start to this dual match season. Senior Dominik Mueller has won nine of 10 to start the dual match season, while junior Jordan Rux has won eight of nine.
WINNING AGAINST THE BEST: The Matt Knoll era has seen Baylor play 322 ranked opponents with the Bears going 237-86 in those matches. Last season the Bears were 20-6 against teams in the ITA's rankings of the top 75 college teams. Baylor's best year against ranked foes came in 2005 when they went 29-1 against the nation's elite with the only loss coming to No. 6 UCLA in the NCAA Tournament finals.
LAST TIME OUT: Baylor blew past No. 73 SMU, 6-1, on Friday, Feb. 26 on a day with winds gusting over 30 miles per hour and the temperature hovering in the middle 40s. Baylor took two of three doubles contests and won five of six singles matches.
LOOKING AHEAD: This week after Tuesday's Baylor will travel to California to face No. 6 UCLA at 1:30 p.m. (PT) on Thursday and then battle 27th-ranked Pepperdine on Saturday. The Bears will then return to Waco for a three-day break before hosting TCU on March 17.
BAYLOR IN THE RANKINGS: In rankings released by the ITA on March 2, Baylor dropped from No. 12 to No. 14 as a team. The Bears have been ranked as high as No. 5 in the country in the Feb. 12 edition of the rankings. Individually, Baylor is represented in the singles rankings by Denes Lukacs at No. 22 and Jordan Rux at No. 28. The Bears have three doubles tandems in the current rankings as Rux partners with Maros Horny to be the 17th-ranked pairing. Horny is also teamed with Lukacs to make up the 59th-ranked duo, while Julian Bley and Attila Bucko are currently ranked 45th.
BLEY SPARKS TURNAROUND: Since being inserted in the lineup for the first time this season against No. 19 Alabama on Feb. 14, sophomore Julian Bley has produced four straight singles victories by winning three times at the No. 6 position and once at the third spot in the lineup. Baylor is also 4-0 in the three matches that the Veitshoechheim, Germany, native has played singles after going 0-2 in the previous two contests.
LUKACS AND MUELLER CONTINUE MARCH: Two of Baylor's seniors, Denes Lukacs and Dominik Mueller, are moving up the ladder in the Baylor record books with each win. Currently, Lukacs has 123 career singles wins, 79 career dual match singles wins and a .809 winning percentage (123-29). He is second on the career wins list, third on the dual match wins list and in fourth place on the percentage list. Mueller has 106 career singles wins, 82 career dual match singles wins and a .785 (106-29) winning percentage. He is fifth in career wins, second in dual match wins, and fifth in winning percentage.
HOME SWEET HOME: The friendly confines of the Baylor Tennis Center have been very kind to the Bears. Over the eight years of its existence, Baylor is 121-6 in matches played in Waco. Under Knoll the Bears are 163-21 when playing at home including matches played at the Streich Courts, the Baylor Tennis Center and various indoor courts in the area. Currently, the Bears hold a 14-match win streak at the Baylor Tennis Center and have won 26 out of 27 in Waco.
SHUTTING OUT THE COMPETITION: In 11 matches this spring, Baylor has blanked its opponent seven times. Six of the wins have been 7-0 victories over Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 58 Iowa, No. 38 TCU, UT-Pan American, Prairie View A&M and UT Arlington, while the Bears beat No. 19 Alabama, 4-0. All of last season the Bears only had eight 7-0 wins and blanked only 10 opponents.
OWNING NON-CONFERENCE OPPOSITION: The Knoll era has brought much success in non-conference play with Baylor sporting a 239-65 mark in non-league play over the last 13+ years.
Quotes: Head Coach Matt Knoll
On the match... "We have taken a little break for the Spring Break holiday. It is a chance for us to get in a competitive environment and get everybody back firing on all cylinders before we go out to California next week."
On the motivation for his team... "I think our players are pretty good about coming and playing hard everyday. It is not something we really talk about. We don't sit around and have a speech about it. We just try to come out and play our best tennis and get the most out of it we can."
McAllen, Texas- Baylor men's tennis junior Jordan Rux was knocked out of the USA F7 Futures Tournament on Thursday by losing 7-5, 6-1 to Dayne Kelly of Australia in McAllen, Texas.
"Jordan played a pretty good, young Australian player," assistant coach Chris Brandi said. "They played a really tight first set. Jordan was up a break and then lost the first. He couldn't really close out. He didn't really serve as well today as he had earlier.
"In the second set the guy played better and took control of the match from there. Overall, I think Jordan played fairly well, but just wasn't good enough today. Overall, in the tournament he did a good job."
For the tournament, Rux was 1-1 after defeating eighth-seed Ti Chen of Chinese Taipei on Wednesday, 7-5, 7-6 (4). The results put Rux's all-time USTA Futures events record at 4-11.
Kelly is currently ranked 432nd on the ATP tour and now has a 53-52 record in Futures events.
Rux, who is 8-1 in dual match play for the Bears this season, got a place in the tournament after receiving a wildcard selection from the USTA. The Kerrville, Texas, product is currently listed at No. 28 in the ITA singles rankings,
The tournament is hosted by the McAllen Country Club and has $15,000 in prize money.
Tournament results can be viewed at this link.
As a team, Baylor is in the midst of a 10-day break, before returning to action March 9 when it hosts Laredo Community College at 2 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center.
McAllen, Texas- Baylor men's tennis junior Jordan Rux earned a place in the round of 16 at the USA F7 Futures Tournament with an opening round victory over eighth-seeded Ti Chen in McAllen, Texas, Wednesday.
"It was a really good match for Jordan," men's assistant head coach Chris Brandi said. "He did a really good job today of sticking with his game plan and played like the guy he is capable of being and that we hope to see the rest of the year."
Rux will now take on Dayne Kelly of Australia on Thursday, after dispatching of Chen 7-5, 7-6 (4). The win raises Rux's all-time USTA Futures events record to 4-10.
The 26-year-old Chen has been ranked as high 255th in the world in singles, but currently is 435th in the world.
"The courts here are very similar to Waco," Brandi said. "They are really slow and the ball bounces really high, so honestly for Jordan it is not a big adjustment at all."
Kelly is currently ranked 432nd on the ATP tour and has a 52-52 record in Futures events. On Wednesday, he beat Javier Herrera-Eguiluz 6-3, 6-0 to advance to Thursday's match.
Rux, who is 8-1 in dual match play for the Bears this season, got a place in the tournament after receiving a wildcard selection from the USTA. The Kerrville, Texas, product is currently listed at No. 28 in the ITA singles rankings,
The tournament is being hosted by the McAllen Country Club and has $15,000 in prize money.
Tournament results can be viewed at this link.
As a team, Baylor is in the midst of a 10-day break, before returning to action March 9 when it hosts Laredo Community College at 2 p.m. at the Baylor Tennis Center.
