April 15, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - The Texas Tech Men's Tennis team (19-3, 4-1) prepares this week for their final conference opponent as they take on Big 12 powerhouse No. 13 Baylor this Saturday at 6 p.m. in Waco, Texas. After going 2-0 last weekend at home, Tech sits only one win away from winning its first ever Big 12 regular season Championship. The last time Texas Tech has won a Big 12 regular season title was in 2005 with men's track and field.

At the McLeod Tennis Center last Saturday, Tech walked away with the biggest win in program history over a ranked opponent as senior Bojan Szumanski clinched the 4-3 upset for his team over No. 17 Dimitar Kutrovsky in the third set. The team wrapped up their spring home schedule the following day as they dominated Nebraska, 7-0, advancing to second place in the latest conference standings.

Three singles players also went 2-0 in singles matches over the weekend, beginning with senior Szumanski who played in his final two scheduled matches at McLeod. With the two weekend wins he moved up 10 spots in the rankings back to No. 33, with a record of 14-6, 3-2 in conference play. Tech's No. 2 singles player Sinisa Markovic finally made his debut into the national rankings at No. 85, defeating Texas' Kellen Damico, then-ranked No. 22, 6-2, 6-0. Markovic holds a 17-3 record at No. 2, and is one win away from recording his second undefeated Big 12 season. The Red Raiders' No. 6 player Michael Breler has also had one of the most successful campaigns of his career, boasting an 18-1 record playing at No. 5 and 6, and is also one win away from ending the Big 12 regular season at 6-0.

Already this season Tech has faced 15 ranked opponents, with the Baylor Bears rounding out as the 17th. Of the seven programs that represent the Big 12 Conference, six are currently ranked including No. 7 Texas, No. 13 Baylor, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 20 Oklahoma State, No. 23 Texas A&M, and No. 74 Oklahoma. Baylor currently leads the conference standings at 3-0, playing Texas tonight in Waco. The Bears are 17-7 this season, falling only to top 20 ranked opponents. The team has four ranked singles players with No. 8 Lars Poerschke, No. 12 Denes Lukacs, No. 43 David Galic, and No. 96 Dominik Mueller, and one ranked doubles pair in No. 44 Galic and Lukacs. The Bears have also won the last six consecutive regular season conference titles, including five Big 12 Tournament Championships.