Cougars Defeat Oklahoma, 25-20, for First Place in World Team Tennis Tournament

PROVO -- Carlos Lozano scored a 6-2 defeat in men's singles to help the Cougars to a 25-20 win over the University of Oklahoma for first place in the WingspanBank.com/World Team Tennis Regional Championships at the BYU indoor tennis courts on Saturday.

Lozano also contributed in men's doubles where he and Gert Vilms defeated Matt Ogle and Chris Mitchell, 6-3. On thewomen's side, Lu Oswald and Jodi Richardson defeated Viviana Mracnova and Annette Bryntesson, 6-4, and in mixed doubles Vilms and Lindsay Ferrell barely defeated Chris Mitchell and Mracnova, 6-5.

"Today was the first time that anyone used the substitutions," said men's coach Jim Osborne, of the World Team Tennis rules that allow one substitution in a set. "Nobody used them yesterday. We subbed right at the start in women's doubles and it was a big momentum swing. From then on, we controlled it until they made a run at the end."

The Cougars won every set except women's singles where Richardson lost to Mracnova, 6-1. BYU advances to the national championships at Stanford University in October.

In the consolation match, Weber State defeated Utah State, 25-19. Behind strong play from Lenka Zacharova, who defeated Sarah Lowe, 6-2, and helped win the women's doubles, 6-0.

The BYU men's team will face UCLA in Los Angeles on January 19, and the women's team will host Northwestern University on January 20, starting at 5 p.m.

BYU         25 
Oklahoma    20
                    BYU     Oklahoma
Women's doubles      6         4
Men's singles        6         2
Men's doubles        6         3
Women's singles      1         6
Mixed doubles        6         5