On the Road Against UC Santa Barbara

PROVO -- The No. 66 BYU men's tennis team (6-3) is on the road this weekend as they travel to Indian Wells, California to take on UC Santa Barbara (6-5)on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Cougars go into the match with a four-match winning streak.

"This is a big match for us," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "UC Santa Barbara is a lot like the Denver team we played last week. They are a good team that is right on the edge of the rankings."

Last Saturday, BYU defeated Denver 4-3 in a match that came down to the very end. Senior Anton Rudjuk beat Colin Day of Denver 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot to clinch the victory for the Cougars.

"We have been playing good doubles the last few matches," said Osborne. "Winning the doubles point last week was the key to the victory. We will be focusing on that again this week."

The Gauchos of UC Santa Barbara come into this match coming off a big win over UC Irvine, 5-2. BYU lost to UC Irvine 4-3 earlier this season, but the Cougars beat No. 51 Arizona 4-3 while UC Santa Barbara lost to them 7-0.

"We will be playing at a neutral site on Saturday, and when that is the case, anything can happen," said Osborne. "We just need to be ready to go and play the kind of tennis we're capable of and we should do great."

After the match with UC Santa Barbara, the Cougars will be in California again next week as they play the University of Pacific on Saturday (March 22) at 1 p.m.