Seniors Lead Cougars Past Falcons

COLORADO SPRINGS -- The BYU men's tennis team (9-10) improved its MWC conference record to 3-1 on Friday by beating the Air Force Academy 5-2. The Cougars' victory over the Falcons marks only the fourth time that Air Force has been beaten all year.

The match started with the Cougars claiming the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Anton Rudjuk and Jose Lechuga beat Justin Mancinelli and Shannon Buck 8-5 at No. 2 while Alonso Medina and Jeff Olsen defeated Chris Dong and Martin Black 8-4 at No. 4.

In singles, the Cougars lost at the top and last spots but won all four matches in between. Carlos Lozano defeated Erik Pittman 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 at the No. 2 spot while Lechuga beat Tyler McClung 7-5, 6-4 at No. 3. Olsen and Rudjuk were the other Cougars to win in singles.

The Cougars will conclude both the regular season play and MWC play tomorrow when they face No. 55 New Mexico. They will then have next week off to prepare for the MWC tournament, which will be held in Provo from April 24 through the 26.

No. 68 BYU def. AFA, 5-2
Singles
1. Shannon Buck (AFA) def. Erik Nyman (BYU)          6-3, 6-2
2. Carlos Lozano (BYU) def. Eric Pittman (BYU)       6-3, 4-6, 7-5
3. Jose Lechuga (BYU) def. Tyler McClung (AFA)       7-5, 6-4
4. Jeff Olsen (BYU) def. Justin Mancinelli (AFA)     6-3, 0-6, 6-2
5. Anton Rudjuk (BYU) def. Chris Dong (AFA)          5-7, 7-6(3), 7-6(1)
6. Trevor Johnson (AFA) def. Alonso Medina (BYU)     6-4, 6-4
Doubles
1. Pittman/McClung (AFA) def. Lozano/Nyman (BYU)     8-6
2. Lechuga/Rudjuk (BYU) def. Mancinelli/Buck (AFA)   8-5
3. Medina/Olsen (BYU) def. Dong/Black (AFA)          8-4