Mears Garners Conference Honors

COLORADO SPRINGS -- BYU’s Cassidy Mears was named Mountain West Conference Men’s Tennis Player of the Week while Air Force’s Tahlia Smoke earned the honor for the women.

Mears, senior and captain of this year’s squad, received the award for the first time in his collegiate career. He went a perfect 4-0 in the Cougars’ opening weekend against Weber State and Utah State. At the No. 3 singles position, Mears earned two wins in straight sets, defeating Weber State's Sascha Kiehne (7-6, 6-4) and Utah State's Bryan Marchant (6-3, 6-2). He also helped clinch the doubles point in both of BYU's matches at the No. 1 position, pairing with Thomas Shubert to defeat Weber State's Kiehne/Simon Unger (8-4) and Utah State's Jakob Asplund/Marchant (8-4).

Smoke, a product of Belmar, N.J., posted Air Force's lone victory in a 6-1 loss to No. 60 Colorado. The sophomore, who is ranked No. 102 by the ITA, improved to 6-0 in singles matches this season with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-2 (10-7) victory over CU's Michala Jensen.