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Dynamic DuoBaylor bids goodbye to two top tennis players
By Jerry Hill
 The
history of Baylor tennis made a dramatic turn four years ago with the
signing of two players who almost didn't make it to Waco at all.
Men's coach Matt Knoll had lost touch with Lars Poerschke (left), a top
junior from Germany who he hoped would follow in the footsteps of NCAA
champions Benjamin Becker and Benedikt Dorsch. "He actually had another
school's letter of intent on his desk that he was going to sign," Knoll
said. When Knoll finally caught up with Poerschke, less than two days
before signing day, he convinced him to make a visit to Baylor first.
And the rest is history.
"The easiest thing to do is just look at how the team did when he was
here," Knoll said. "We made the [NCAA] finals once and the semifinals
twice. He was part of some great teams, and he was the best player on a
lot of those teams. He gave us an emotional lift over the course of the
year."
While Knoll had to win a recruiting battle for Poerschke, women's coach Joey Scrivano had a
different struggle in getting Zuzana Zemenova (right) to come from
Kosice, Slovakia, to Waco. Only with the support of ZZ's parents and
her coach did Scrivano convince Zemenova to put off turning pro.
"She came kicking and screaming," Scrivano said. "And it was touch and
go those first couple of months. I was never sure if she was going to
be there the next day."
Four years later, an emotional Zemenova couldn't keep the tears from
flowing in her final home match at the Baylor Tennis Center. "These
four years have been amazing for me," said Zemenova, a four-time
all-American and Big 12 player of the year who graduated in May with a
degree in communications. "I can't be more thankful to Baylor. I
enjoyed every single year here, but especially these last two weeks
with the team getting to the semifinals and then getting to the finals
in singles."
Of course, Zemenova set the bar extremely high in her first year, when
she became the first unseeded champion in the history of the NCAA
Tournament. She finished an incredible run with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 win
over Northwestern's Audra Cohen in the final.
Although Zemenova never climbed to those lofty heights again, she
played the number-one singles spot for the Bears for four years and
finished second all-time with 123 victories. And in each of her last
three years, Zemenova lost to the eventual national champion, this year
in the finals.
"All I can do is pray that I get another player like that, because
she's just been the easiest person to coach," Scrivano said. "I don't
think there's a better person out there that's playing the sport of
tennis."
But it was the team's accomplishments that stamp Zemenova as arguably
Baylor's best female athlete of all time. Not only did the Bears win
four consecutive Big 12 regular-season and conference tournament
championships, but they took a big step this year with their first-ever
trip to the NCAA semifinals.
Like Zemenova, Poerschke's freshman season ended on the sport's biggest
stage. Playing number-three singles behind Dorsch and Becker for a 33-0
team that was ranked number one all year, Poerschke lost to UCLA senior
Kris Kwinta, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the last match on court in a 4-3 loss to
the Bruins in the 2005 final.
Over the last three seasons, Poerschke, who is one semester shy of
graduation, has held down the top spot in the Bears' singles lineup.
"At number one, I know I have to come out every match and play 100
percent to beat guys. Everybody's got a guy up there at number one," he
said.
Although their paths nearly didn't cross at all, Zemenova and Poerschke
are now on the same road. Both turned pro after the NCAA Tournament and
are scheduled to play in Futures and USTA satellite tournaments this
summer.
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