BOISE -- The No. 59 BYU men's tennis team ended its week-long road trip on Saturday by losing to No. 45 Fresno State 4-3. The loss, which is the fourth suffered by BYU this week, drops the Cougars to 7-9 on the season.
The Bulldogs came out strong and captured the doubles point by winning all three doubles matches.
"Fresno State came out ready to play and really overpowered us in doubles," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "We need to really focus on winning the doubles point. That is the key for us this season."
In singles, Erik Nyman came up with a big win over Hector Almada 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 1 spot. Jeff Olsen and Anton Rudjuk were the other Cougars to win in singles. Olsen beat Andy Sinn 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 at No. 5 and Rudjuk defeated Sergiu Modoc 6-3, 6-4 at No. 6.
The Cougars will be at home next weekend as they begin conference play in Provo. They will be playing Utah on Thursday, San Diego State on Friday and UNLV on Saturday. All three matches will begin at noon.
No. 45 Fresno State 4, No. 59 BYU 3Doubles (Fresno State wins point)
1. Almada / Modoc (FS) def. No. 18 Lozano / Nyman (BYU) 8-6
2. Shearer / Suta (FS) def. Lechuga / Rudjuk (BYU) 8-2
3. Alex Krohn / Sinn (FS) def. Medina / Olsen (BYU) 8-5
Singles
1. Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Hector Almada (FS) 6-3, 6-2
2. Stefan Suta (FS) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Greg Shearer (FS) def. Jose Lechuga (BYU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
4. Marc Schaerer (FS) def. Alonso Medina (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Jeff Olsen (BYU) def. Andy Sinn (FS) 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
6. Anton Rudjuk (BYU) def. Sergiu Modoc (FS) 6-3, 6-4
Records: Fresno State (10-6), BYU (7-9)
PROVO -- The 59th ranked BYU men's tennis team (7-4) will be on the road this week in California and Idaho as they take on No. 8 Stanford on Wednesday, No. 51 Boise State on Friday and No. 50 Fresno State on Saturday.
"This is going to be a very challenging week for us," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "We are going to play some great teams. This will give us all a chance to see just we're made of."
BYU is coming off a tough loss to No. 5 California on Monday. The Bears swept the Cougars 7-0, winning every match except at the No. 1 doubles position. Cougars Erik Nyman and Carlos Lozano defeated Steve Berke and John Paul Fruttero 8-6.
The Cardinals of Stanford come into Wednesday's match having won its last six matches. They currently have four players ranked in the top 70 in the nation in singles, as well as two doubles teams ranked in the top 30. They have an 11-2 record.
After the match with Stanford, BYU will be traveling to Boise where they will take on BSU and FSU. The Broncos of BSU currently have a 10-6 record and are coming off big wins over South Alabama and Notre Dame. BSU recently jumped from No. 68 to No. 51 in the rankings and are looking to improve their ranking with a win over BYU.
The Bulldogs of FSU have won six of their last nine matches and have already passed their win total from last season, with a 9-6 overall record. Fresno State is 3-2 in March despite playing five ranked opponents.
"All the teams we face this week are tough and very competitive," said Osborne. "We usually face them each year and they always come ready to play. We just need to work on the things we've been working on in practice and focus one each match, one at a time."
After this long road trip, the Cougars will be at home next weekend to begin conference play as the face Utah on Thursday, San Diego State on Friday and UNLV on Saturday. All three matches will begin at noon.
