Cougars Start Season with Two Wins

PROVO -- The No. 70 BYU men’s tennis team earned its first two wins of the season and improved its record to 2-0 after victories over Utah State and Weber State Friday. The Cougars looked strong as they swept the Aggies and allowed the Wildcats to score only one point.

"Our team goal was to win every match today," BYU coach Brad Pearce said. "It wasn't perfect, but it was very close."

Sophomores Evan Urbina and A.J. Young opened up scoring for the Cougars in doubles play on court two, easily defeating Utah State’s Amit Maharaj and Alex Thatcher 8-2. Wins on courts one and three earned the doubles point for BYU and completed the sweep.

Urbina also earned a victory in singles to put the home team up 2-1. Cougar singles play rolled on, and BYU clinched the match with simultaneous wins by freshmen Roman Warias and Georgy Batrakov and sophomore Thomas Shubert.

Junior Cassidy Mears racked up another point for the Cougars with a straight-set win over Thatcher. Young won his first set against freshman Jordan Barlow before dropping the second 6-0. He came back in the tiebreak to blank the Aggies 7-0.

Doubles play against Weber State started with a solid performance by sophomore Daniel Hwang and freshman Batrakov, who handily defeated their Wildcat foes 8-3. With a loss by Urbina and Young, the hope for the doubles point rested with Mears and Shubert. The two fell behind to start the match but battled back to even the score at six all. The pairs went back-and-forth to force a tiebreak before the Cougars dropped the match 8-8 (7-5).

"We came out a little flat," Pearce said. "That match could've gone our way and our guys fought hard; that's all you can ask for."

That was the only point Weber State would earn on the night with BYU turning in solid performances across the board in singles play. Urbina again started things off for the Cougars with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Simon Unger. Batrakov and Warias followed quickly with victories on their respective courts and Shubert secured the match with a win over Wildcat Sascha Kiehne.

Mears and Hwang earned the Cougars’ last two points at positions five and six with decisive victories over Travis Covington and Cole Paterson respectively. Hwang did not lose a single game en route to his straight-set win while Mears lost just one.

"We took care of business in singles from top to bottom," Pearce said.

BYU will travel to California next week to take on No. 4 UCLA, No. 62 UC Santa Barbara and No. 63 UC Irvine.

Match Results

No. 70 BYU- 7

Utah State- 0

January 16, 2009

Doubles

1. Mears/Shubert (BYU) def. Asplund/Marchant (USU) 8-5

2. Urbina/Young (BYU) def. Maharaj/Thatcher (USU) 8-2

3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Banks/Barlow (USU) 8-4

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

1. Shubert (BYU) def. Asplund (USU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Urbina (BYU) def. Maharaj (USU) 6-4, 6-2

3. Warias (BYU) def. Marchant (USU) 6-4, 6-3

4. Batrakov (BYU) def. Banks (USU) 7-5, 6-2

5. Mears (BYU) def. Thatcher (USU) 6-2, 6-1

6. Young (BYU) def. Barlow (USU) 6-4, 0-6, 10-7

Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 4, 5, 6

No. 70 BYU- 6

Weber State- 1

January 16, 2009

Doubles

1. Kiehne/Unger (WSU) def. Mears/Shubert (BYU) 8-8 (7)

2. Covington/Marchant (WSU) def. Urbina/Young (BYU) 8-4

3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Paterson/Williams (WSU) 8-1

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles

1. Shubert (BYU) def. Kiehne (WSU) 6-3, 6-4

2. Urbina (BYU) def. Unger (WSU) 6-4, 6-1

3. Warias (BYU) def. Marchant (WSU) 6-0, 6-4

4. Batrakov (BYU) def. Williams (WSU) 6-1, 6-2

5. Mears (BYU) def. Covington (WSU) 6-0, 6-1

6. Hwang (BYU) def. Paterson (WSU) 6-0, 6-0

Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6