Cougars Lose Close Match To #14 Cal-Berkeley

PROVO -- After surprising the Mountain West Conference by winning the tournament as a four seed, then getting a surprise invitation to host the first two rounds as the lowest seed in their region, the BYU men's tennis team almost came up with another surprise on Friday afternoon by defeating 14th-ranked Cal-Berkeley, but came up short, losing 4-1, in a close match at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts.

After getting the doubles point, Cal won the first three singles, taking a 3-1 lead. But, in the last three singles matches, the Cougars were up at the two spot and the five spot, before Anton Rudjuk lost at the four spot in a tie-breaker in the third set, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

"We gave it our all and we just didn't quite get it done," said BYU coach Jim Osborne. "Cal is solid all the way down the line. We knew coming in that we would have to play great tennis to beat them and we almost did. We played well, but we needed to play great and they just played better."

The Cougars started the match with an exciting victory in doubles. BYU's 32nd-ranked doubles team of Gert Vilms and Carlos Lozano defeated Cal's 36th-ranked doubles team of Adrian Barnes and Scott Kintz, 8-4. Then, with Cal winning at the three spot, the point came down to the two spot. BYU's Jeff Olsen and Jeff Harbach took the match with Ben Miles and Balazs Veress to the tie-breaker before winning the match and the doubles point, 8-8 (9-7).

"The doubles point gave us a big high to start," said BYU coach Jim Osborne. "Playing the doubles point first is a great system. Our strategy came so close, we just needed tomorrow's weather, 89 degrees instead of 80."

Vilms and Lozano will still be making the trip to Athens, Georgia to compete in singles and doubles. Vilms qualified in singles and Vilms and Lozano qualified in doubles from the Mountain Region. Cal will face Fresno State on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts to see who will advance from the Mountain Region to the field of 16.

NCAA Mountain Regional Results:
#67 BYU   1         #14 California-Berkeley   4
Doubles: 
BYU wins the doubles point
BYU                       Cal-Berkeley
#1 Vilms/Lozano (32) vs.  Barnes/Kintz (36)     8-4        BYU
#2 Olsen/Harbach     vs.  Fruttero/Kowalczyk    8-8 (9-7)  BYU
#3 Nyman/Stohl       vs.  Miles/Veress          8-6        CAL
Singles: 
Cal wins the first four singles to take the match, 4-1
BYU                     Cal-Berkeley
#1 Gert Vilms      vs.  John Paul Fruttero  6-2, 6-3            CAL
#2 Carlos Lozano   vs.  Adrian Barnes       DNF
#3 Eric Nyman      vs.  Balazs Veress       6-2, 6-4            CAL
#4 Anton Rudjuk    vs.  Robert Kowalczyk    4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)	CAL
#5 Jeff Harbach    vs.  Scott Kintz         DNF
#6 Matt Stohl      vs.  Ben Miles           6-2, 6-1            CAL
#20 Fresno State   4          #47 Wake Forest   3
Doubles: 
Fresno State               Wake Forest
#1 Luczak/Mullins (5) vs.  Munoz/Murray         8-4     FSU
#2 Fustar/Cooper (35) vs.  Loewenthal/Brendon   8-8 (3) FSU
#3 Menichini/Krohn    vs.  Bere/Kaufmann        8-4     WFU
Singles: 
Fresno State            Wake Forest					
#1 Peter Luczak (3) vs. Raul Munoz           6-3, 1-6, 6-2  FSU	
#2 Nick Fustar      vs. Mike Murray          6-4, 7-6 (0)   WFU
#3 David Mullins    vs. David Loewenthal     6-4, 6-3       WFU
#4 Sean Cooper      vs. David Bere           6-2, 7-5       WFU
#5 Alex Menichini   vs. Trent Brendon        6-0, 6-3       FSU
#6 Alex Krohn       vs. Justin Kaufmann      6-3, 7-6 (4)   FSU
Notes -- Doubles point proved to be the deciding factor, as Loewenthal and Brendon took Fustar and Cooper to an exciting tiebreaker before winning the doubles point. The match came down to Luczak and Munoz, where Munoz took the No. 3 player in the country to three sets, before eventually losing.