May 22, 2005

Listen to Coach Steinberg's post-match comments

College Station, Tex. - The Pepperdine men's tennis season drew to a close Sunday night when they fell to the NCAA Championship's top-ranked Baylor squad in the quarterfinals, 4-0 in College Station, Texas. The Waves conclude the year with a 24-3 record, with two of those losses coming to the Bears.  Baylor (32-0), looking to repeat as National Champions will face No. 4 Florida in Monday's semifinal.

The 4-0 score misrepresents the closeness of the match as the Waves were nearing wins on at four and six. Richard Johnson was battling in a third set on court five when Lars Poerschke defeated Jonas Berg 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 for the win.

"We played the best team in the country. I think it was a lot closer than the score," said third year coach Adam Steinberg, who made his first trip to the Round of 16 this year.

For the second time in the tournament the Waves failed to capture the first point of the day. Baylor's Benjamin Becker and Jon Reckewey made short work of Richard Johnson and Kevin Borzenski with an 8-1 set. When they won on three, the Bears were up a break on courts one and two as well.

Ivor Lovrak and Jonas Berg got back on serve at 5-5, but Pedro Rico and Scott Doerner could not do the same. Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga broke Rico's serve to go up 3-1 early, and Pepperdine could not return the favor. They lost 8-5 when Dorsch served the first match point.

Steinberg reemphasized the significance of the early lead. "Doubles means so much. We'd won 26 straight until yesterday. I felt we had a great year because of the doubles." When the Waves were slow out of the gate the Bears capitalized, not only in doubles but in singles as well.

Baylor took four first sets in the six singles matches. They posted quick leads on courts three (6-1) and five (6-2). The Waves showed the heart that got them this far as Berg bounced back with a 6-3 second set and Johnson took a split with 6-1.

On court one Scott Doerner was trading deuces in marathon games with second-ranked Benedikt Dorsch. When the seventh game finally wrapped Doerner found himself down 2-5 and nearly out of gas. After medical attention the junior gave it one more go, but when Dorsch took the first set Pepperdine decided Doerner was too weak to continue.

"It was just heat exhaustion," said Steinberg. "Nothing can prepare you for these conditions. Scott is our leader and our most intense competitor. He loves tennis and he loves to compete, so for us to take him out he really had to be hurting."

The days of high temperatures coupled with Texas' humidity caught up to Rico during his singles match as well. At 1-1 in the second set he asked for a trainer during a changeover. Finding brief relief in a wet towel, he retook the court only to have Benjamin Becker break his serve. After another break, Becker took the match at 6-3, 6-2 to give Baylor the 3-0 lead.

Backed into a corner, Pepperdine kept fighting. Berg and Johnson were in third sets, Lovrak was a game away from winning his match, as was Alexis Rafidison.

Steinberg noted the importance of junior Ivor Lovrak who came to Pepperdine from Baylor last summer. "He's been great all year. He's a big time player. Ivor is a great team guy, great to have around and I can't say enough about him."

The Waves will return all but one player to Malibu next year, as Steinberg's first Pepperdine recruit is returning to France following a stellar senior season. Rafidison posted an 18-3 record this year in dual match singles.

Before either Lovrak or Rafidison could put points on Pepperdine's scoresheet, Poerschke put the Bears in the semifinals. His 6-1 third set over Berg ended the match and the Waves' season, but not before Pepperdine showed college tennis who they are.

"We have a lot of respect for Pepperdine.  We squeaked by them 4-3 in Waco, so we knew it was going to be a great match," said Baylor head coach Matt Knoll.  "To get to four points is tough, we got the first three real quick but number four was a struggle."

"I knew we weren't going to go down easy. Someone would have to kill us for that to happen, and that's basically what happened," said Steinberg. "I have the greatest bunch of guys in the world. I'm proud of them and I always am."

#1 Baylor def. #8 Pepperdine, 4-0

Doubles
Dorsch/Zgaga def. Doerner/Rico 8-5
Kokta/Poerschke vs. Berg/Lovrak 7-6, DNF
Becker/Reckewey def. Borzenski/Johnson 8-1

Singles
Benedikt Dorsch (Baylor) def. Scott Doerner (Pepperdine) 6-2, Retired (inj.)
Benjamin Becker (Baylor) def. Pedro Rico (Pepperdine) 6-3, 6-2
Lars Poerschke (Baylor) def. Jonas Berg (Pepperdine) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
Michal Kokta (Baylor) vs. Ivor Lovrak (Pepperdine) 3-6, 6-6 (5-5)
Matija Zgaga (Baylor) vs. Richard Johnson (Pepperdine) 6-2, 1-6, 2-1
Greg Shearer (Baylor) vs. Alexis Rafidison (Pepperdine) 3-6, 4-5