Netters Back On Winning Track

PROVO -- The BYU men's tennis team got back on the winning track by sweeping the University of Denver, 7-0, on Monday afternoon.

During the last two weeks, the Cougars had lost three in a row and four of their last five. Three of those losses were to Mountain West Conference opponents, moving BYU to 2-3 in conference. With the win, the Cougars are now 10-8 overall.

"It helped us get back on the winning track," said BYU coach Jim Osborne. "It was good for everyone. We were serving better, we were returning better, it was a battle but it was nice to be at home. With the conference tournament coming up, we've got to win the doubles point from here on out, that is important."

BYU won doubles point against the Pioneers in a big way, taking the victory at every spot. Gert Vilms and Carlos Lozano won at the top spot, 8-1.

In singles, Anton Rudjuk, Michael Geysens and Jeff Harbach played particularly strong, each winning in straight sets. Vilms played at the No. 1 spot again after switching with Lozano for several matches. Lozano's match with Denver's Magnus Ramfelt was the longest match of the day, going to the seventh point in all three sets.

BYU will be back in action on Wednesday when they host the University of Montana at 2 p.m. The match will be played on the outdoor courts pending weather conditions.

Results:
BYU  7        Utah State  0
DOUBLES:
Vilms/Lozano def. Turkic/Menzies        8-1  (BYU)
Harbach/Olsen def. Ramfelt/Young        8-3  (BYU)
Nyman/Stohl def. Ceilley/Patel          8-5  (BYU)
SINGLES:
Gert Vilms def. Boris Turkic          7-5,6-4        (BYU)
Carlos Lozano def. Magnus Ramfelt     6-7, 7-6, 7-5  (BYU)
Eric Nyman def. Jay Patel             6-2, 6-7, 6-3  (BYU)
Anton Rudjuk def. Trevor Young        6-1, 6-4       (BYU)
Michael Gysens def. Mike Ceilley      6-1, 6-4       (BYU)
Jeff Harbach def. Lachlan Menzies     6-2, 6-3       (BYU)