PROVO -- Even with one of its number one players sitting out the match, the BYU men's tennis team handed Montana State a 6-1 defeat at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts Saturday. The win evens the Cougars' dual-match record at 4-4 on the season.
With sophomore Carlos Lozano watching from the bleachers, BYU jumped on the Fighting Bobcats early, recording three doubles wins to take a 1-0 lead in the match. The Cougars tested out two new doubles combinations, as sophomore Jeff Olsen teamed with senior Girt Vilms at No. 1 doubles in Lozano's absence, and freshman Eric Nyman and sophomore Matt Stohl took the court together in the No. 2 doubles spot.
"With Carlos out and with the two new doubles teams, I was especially happy we came out and won the match the way we did," said BYU coach Jim Osborne.
The Cougars continued to dominate the visiting Bobcats in the singles matches, taking all but one of the six pairings. Sophomore Lukaz Mazur posted the lone win for Montana State at No. 2 singles, while BYU recorded straight-set victories in the other five matches. Junior Michael Gysens moved to 2-0 this year at the No. 3 singles spot with a 6-2, 6-3 win, and junior Jeff Harbach and Stohl closed out the match allowing the Bobcats to win just one game combined in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles contests. Harbach won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 5, and Stohl recorded a 6-0, 6-0 victory at No. 6.
The Cougars will travel to Boise, Idaho next weekend, where they will take on Southern Mississippi Friday, March 9, and Drake University on Saturday, March 10.
RESULTS:BYU 6 Montana State 1
Singles:
#1 Gert Vilms def. Thijs Goossens 6-4, 6-1 BYU
#2 Lukaz Mazur def. Anton Rudjuk 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 MSU
#3 Michael Geysens def. BJ Hauck 6-2, 6-3 BYU
#4 Eric Nyman def. Chris Tokar 6-2, 6-2 BYU
#5 Jeff Harbach def. Jason Swanson 6-0, 6-1 BYU
#6 Matt Stohl def. Jesse Peach 6-0, 6-0 BYU
Doubles:
#1 Vilms/Olsen def. Goossens/Hauck 8-6 BYU
#2 Stohl/Nyman def. Mazur/Tokar 8-4 BYU
#3 Harbach/Rudjuk def. Swanson/Thomson 8-4 BYU
The BYU men's tennis team will host Montana State on Satuday at 2 p.m. in the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.
The Cougars, 3-4on the season, defeated the University of Idaho, 7-0, on Saturday afternoon.
After a tough four-game road trip to start the season, BYU has won three in a row. All three of those victories have been 7-0 shutouts.
Carlos Lozano and Gert Vilms lead the way for the Cougars, playing in the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. Lozano and Vilms are both 11-6 this season in singles. They are 14-3 as a doubles team.
Montana State is 2-5 on the season with victories over Montana State-Billings, 7-0, and the University of Montana, 5-2. BYU played the University of Montana earlier in the season, defeating the Grizzlies, 7-0, in Provo.
The Montana State Bobcats have been led by sophomore Lukasz Mazur, who has posted a 5-2 mark at No. 2 singles.
"Lukasz (Mazur) is playing great tennis and Thijs (Goossens) is playing neck-and-neck with some of the best players in the nation," said MSU first-year coach Mike Phillips.
Montana State's No. 1 doubles tandem of Goossens and BJ Hauck have also posted a 6-2 slate this winter.
COMPOSITE RECORDSSINGLES
Rec. Dual 1 2 3 4 5 6
Gert Vilms 11-6 4-3 2-2 2-1
Carlos Lozano 11-6 4-3 1-2 3-1
Anton Rudjuk 5-5 3-3 3-3
Jeff Olsen 2-5 1-2 1-1
Jeff Harbach 1-3 1-3 1-2 0-1
Michael Gysens 9-6 3-3 1-0 1-2 1-1
Matt Stohl 5-7 3-3 1-0 1-1 1-2
Eric Nyman 2-2 2-2 1-1 1-1
DOUBLES
Rec Dual Tourn 1 2 3
Lozano/Vilms 14-3 5-2 9-1 5-2
Rudjuk/Gysens 2-2 0-0 2-2
Olsen/Stohl 3-3 1-0 2-3 1-0
Rudjuk/Harbach 3-2 3-2 0-0 3-2
Nyman/Olsen 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-1
Gysens/Nyman 4-2 4-2 0-0 1-0 3-2
Stohl/Harbach 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-1
SCHEDULE AND RESULTS
Jan. 12-13 World Team Tennis Reg Provo, UT 1st place
Jan. 19 UCLA Los Angeles L 6-1.
Jan. 20 Univ. of San Diego San Diego L 6-1
Jan. 23 USC Los Angeles L 7-0
Jan. 24 Pepperdine Malibu, CA L 5-2
Feb. 8 Utah State Provo, UT W 7-0
Feb. 14 ISU Provo, UT W 7-0
Feb. 24 Univ. of Idaho Provo, UT W 7-0
Mar. 3 Montana State Provo, UT 2 p.m.
Mar. 22 Utah Provo, UT noon
Mar. 23 New Mexico Provo, UT noon
Mar. 24 Air Force Provo, UT noon
Mar. 28 Stanford Palo Alto, CA 11 a.m.
Mar. 30 San Diego State San Diego, CA TBA
Mar. 31 UNLV San Diego, CA TBA
April 9 Univ. of Denver Provo, UT 2 p.m.
April 11 Univ. of Montana Provo, UT 2 p.m.
April 13 Boise State Boise, ID 4 p.m.
April 14 Fresno State Boise, ID 4 p.m.
April 26-28 Mountain West Conf. SLC, UT All Day
May 11-12 NCAA 1st round team TBA All Day
May 18-29 NCAA team and ind. Athens, GA All Day
RECORD: 3-4
