Welcome to wacotrib!

Home > The Bear Blog > Archives > 2008 > December > 30 > Entry

BU’s all-time tennis teams

By Brice Cherry | Tuesday, December 30, 2008, 06:00 AM

MEN’S TENNIS

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Baylor’s tennis program should always carry a special place among fans of BU athletics, since its men’s squad was the first team to ever produce a national championship.

When Matt Knoll arrived as head men’s coach (and now director of tennis) in 1997, he ushered in a new era of tennis at Baylor, one marked by a distinct international flavor. Knoll’s willingness to recruit talent from overseas allowed Baylor to increase its talent base tenfold.

That said, true Baylor fans will know how to pronounce the following names, the members of my all-time green-and-gold tennis teams:

MEN

Benjamin Becker (2002-05): A three-time All-American, Becker had a season for the ages as a junior in 2004, when he helped the Bears win the NCAA team championship while also capturing the national individual singles title. Becker was 141-33 in singles and 104-30 in doubles for his career, ranking atop both all-time BU wins lists. Among his professional achievements is beating Andre Agassi at the 2006 U.S. Open in Agassi’s final pro match.

Benedikt Dorsch (2003-05): The yin to Becker’s yang, Dorsch attained All-America recognition in both singles and doubles in each of his three seasons at Baylor. A year after Becker won the NCAA individual title, Dorsch did the same, and his .888 career winning percentage (119 wins, 15 losses) in singles play is a school record.

Johann Jooste (1997-2000): Jooste twice earned All-American honors in singles, and his 94 career wins have him tied (with Mark Williams) for the eighth-most in school history. In ‘99, he went 8-0 in conference play and was named Baylor’s first Big 12 Player of the Year.

Matias Marin (2000-04): This native of Argentina netted 104 singles wins over his BU tenure, the fourth-best total in program history. He’s also tied for No. 7 on the all-time doubles wins chart.

Lars Poerschke (2005-08): A three-time All-American, Poerschke ended his career with a 119-43 singles mark, tying him with Dorsch for the second-most wins in school history. He was a four-time All-Big 12 honoree in singles play (joining Becker as the only Baylor player to do so), and also earned recongition for his off-the-court efforts, winning the 2008 Arthur Ashe Award for Leadership and Sportsmanship.

Ed White (1953-56): Arguably the best Baylor tennis player before the current wave of international talent roared in, White is the program’s only player in the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame. He was undefeated as a freshman and 14-1 as a junior, competing as Baylor’s No. 1 singles player. As a senior in ‘56, White defeated three of the Southwest Conference’s top players, from Texas, Houston and Texas Tech, respectively.

Coach: Matt Knoll (1997-present): Who else? A recent inductee to the Baylor Athletic Hall of Fame himself, Knoll has won eight Big 12 championships in 12 seasons and has amassed a 286-70 record. And, obviously, his greatest achievement was bringing BU its first-ever national title in 2004.

WOMEN

Lenka Broosova (2006-present): Just a junior, Broosova has already done more than enough to warrant a spot on this prestigious team. Her sophomore season was one of BU’s all-time bests, as she went 52-5, setting a school record for wins, and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Amanda McDowell.

Zuzana Cerna (2004-07): A two-time All-Big 12 performer and two-time All-American, Cerna burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2004-05, winning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors while going 22-10 in singles. Her 101 career singles victories are fifth-best in school history.

Katja Kovac (1998-2002): No BU women’s tennis player ever registered more singles victories than Kovac, who tallied 127 from ‘98 to 2002. Moreover, her 81 career doubles wins are second-most in school history. She was an all-Big 12 honoree all four of her seasons in Waco.

Vida Mulec (1999-2003): A four-year standout for Baylor, Mulec earned all-Big 12 recognition in both singles and doubles, and her 91 career singles wins are tied for No. 7 in school history.

Jahnavi Parekh (1998-2001): The first Baylor player ever ranked in the nation’s top 10, Parekh won 88 matches playing at No. 1 singles. An ITA All-American, she reached the NCAA’s round of 16 in singles in 2000, and made the semifinals in doubles teaming with Kovac in 2002.

Zuzana Zemenova (2004-08): ZZ may be last in your program, but she’s first in the discussion of Baylor’s best all-time players. The only player ever to win four straight Big 12 Player of the Year awards, Zemenova became the NCAA’s first unseeded player to win the national title in 2005. She returned to the NCAA final last spring before falling to Georgia Tech’s Amanda McDowell. Zemenova’s 123 singles wins are second to Cerna among BU’s all-time best, and she finished her career with a 17-3 singles record in NCAA tournament play.

Coach: Joey Scrivano (2003-present): While Dave Luedtke undoubtedly achieved some very good things as the coach of the Baylor women’s tennis program from 1988-2002, Scrivano has — to borrow the cliche — taken it to another level. Namely, five Big 12 titles in six seasons and a eye-popping 72-9 record in conference play. In 2008, Scrivano directed the Lady Bears to a 32-3 record and a No. 4 final ranking, best in program history.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Baylor's all-time teams

Comments

By hilltribber

December 31, 2008 11:12 AM | Link to this | Report comment abuse

In general, I think you nailed it on the tennis picks. But I would have substituted Charlton Eagle for Matias Marin. Eagle was a stud back when the program wasn’t and made it to at least one NCAA singles tournament, plus had some big wins over SMU’s John Ross and others.