Men Get Back to A-Game; Women Still Fighting at Nationals

PROVO -- Both BYU tennis teams were in action Friday with the men racking up two solid wins at home versus Northern Arizona University and the University of San Franscisco while the women lost a close match to No. 18 Clemson at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The men's day started off with a close doubles competition with NAU. Jonathan Sanchez and Chip Hand dominated the No. 2 spot, winning 8-0, and Cassidy Mears and Michael Eraso struggled at No. 3, losing 8-4. The doubles point came down to James Ludlow and Dominik Kaufhold at the No. 1 spot. Both teams held serve to reach 8-8, but the Cougars held out in the tiebreak and won 9-8 (4).

The singles competition against NAU was not as close as BYU won all six spots in straight sets. Hand was again the first off the court at No. 3, winning 6-2, 6-2 and reinforcing his reputation of least time spent between the lines. Albert Nersesyan at No. 6 also won his first match of the season in a convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-1.

"I was just so pumped out there today," Nersesyan said. "It felt so good to be out there and I can't wait to play again."

The second match was also lopsided in BYU's favor, 5-2. Kaufhold, Hand and Sanchez completed their personal sweeps after winning all of the matches they played Friday in both singles and doubles.

"It feels good," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "We had two goals for the matches today: we wanted to win and we wanted to give everyone a chance to play. They all work hard everyday and I feel good that everyone had a chance to contribute."

With the wins, the Cougars' home record dating back to 2004 is now 16-1.

BYU head women's coach Craig Manning was also upbeat about his teams performance at the National Team Indoor Championships.

"Our singles play was much better today," Manning said. "Our doubles were terrible, but our singles play really kept us in the match and gave us a legitimate chance to win."

Freshman Kristina Doerr won her match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, as did Dolly Chang, 6-3, 6-1. Coming off of a big win on Thursday, Lauren Jones was up 3-0 in the third set but was unable to hold on. Sofia Holden played three long sets and lost in a tiebreak in the third.

Tomorrow the women face No. 12 Virginia Commonwealth in another consolation match. The next home match for the women will be on March 2 against the University of Colorado. The following day the team will host Boise State. The men's team will host the University of Denver on Feb. 23 in its next home match.

Match Results

Men vs. NAU

Doubles

1- Ludlow/Kaufhold (BYU) def. Morys/Platzer (NAU) 9-8 (4)

2- Hand/ Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Bristow/Fraser (NAU) 8-0

3- Arena/Ducray (NAU) def. Mears/ Michael Eraso (BYU) 8-4

Singles

1- James Ludlow (BYU) def. Gareth Giblot-Ducray (NAU) 6-2, 6-2

2- Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Michael Platzer (NAU) 6-3, 6-4

3- Christian Hand (BYU) def. Bradley Bristow (NAU) 6-2, 6-2

4- Cale Planck (BYU) def. Jeff Morys (NAU) 6-2, 6-2

5- Cassidy Mears (BYU) def. Chris Arena (NAU) 6-1, 7-5

6- Albert Nersesyan (BYU) def. Jake Tracy (NAU) 6-2, 6-1

Order of Finish

3, 1, 2, 4, 6, 5

Men vs. USF

Doubles

1- Ludlow/Kaufhold (BYU) def. Nachbauer/ Mitch Del Rosario (USF) 8-4

2- Hand/ Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Tu/huettenberger (USF) 8-3

3- Cassidy Mears/Planck (BYU) def. Cohen/Berry (USF) 8-7 (5)

Singles

1- Matt Berry (USF) def. James Ludlow (BYU) 7-6 (4), 6-2

2- Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Falko Huettenberger (USF) 6-2, 6-3

3- Christian Hand (BYU) def. Rainer Nachbauer (USF) 6-4, 6-1

4- Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Thong Tu (USF) 7-5, 6-2

5- Cale Planck (BYU) def. Einar Hart (USF) 6-3, 6-3

6- Asaf Cohen (USF) def. Jason Johnson (BYU) 6-2, 6-2

Order of Finish

2, 3, 4, 1, 5, 6

Women vs. Clemson

Doubles

1- Mijacika/Van Adrichem (CU) def. Surkova/Miccoli (BYU) 8-4

2- Brito/Luc (CU) def. Jones/Holden 8-1

3- Balda/Hadziselimovic (CU) def. Hayasaka/Chang (BYU) 8-5

Singles

1- Ani Mijacika (CU) def. Lauren Jones (BYU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4

2- Estefania Balda (CU) def. Anastasia Surkova (BYU) 6-4, 7-6

3- Kristina Doerr (BYU) def. Ini Hadziselimovic (CU) 6-3, 6-3

4- Maria Brito (CU) def. Sofia Holden (BYU) 7-6, 5-7, 7-6

5- Federica Van Adrichem (CU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-3, 6-1

6- Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Alexandra Luc (CU) 6-3, 6-1

Order of Finish:

5, 3, 1, 2, 4, 6