BYU Falls in Final

Corpus Christi, Texas (March 6, 2010)— The No. 23 BYU men’s tennis team could not stop a three-peat at the HEB Tournament of Champions in Texas Saturday. No. 18 Texas Tech earned the crown for the third consecutive year with a 4-1 win over the Cougars.

TTU’s two ranked doubles teams proved too much for BYU in pairs play. Cougar tandems fell on courts one and two and the Red Raiders clinched the first point of the day. At the No. 3 position, Georgy Batrakov and Daniel Hwang notched their 12th win of the season and the only doubles victory for BYU.

In singles, Texas Tech’s No. 23 Raony Carvalho and No. 58 Gonzalo Escobar netted wins at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions respectively. BYU’s Batrakov kept rolling in individual play with a straight-set victory on court four before a Red Raider win at the No. 3 spot gave Texas Tech the tournament title.

Spencer Smith and Michael Eraso both split sets in their matches but play stopped after the result was set. With the loss, the Cougars fall to 13-2 while TTU improves to 12-1.

BYU will return home next week to take on Nebraska Saturday as they partner with the USTA to host Campus Kids’ Day.

Results
No. 23 BYU-1
No. 18 Texas Tech-4
Doubles
1. No. 23 Carvalho/Garcia (TTU) def. Mears/Shubert (BYU) 8-3
2. No. 39 Escobar/Stabile (TTU) def. Smith/Urbina (BYU) 8-4
3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Manzini/Pfister (TTU) 8-3
Singles
1. No. 12 R. Carvalho (TTU) def. T. Shubert (BYU) 6-2, 6-3
2. No. 58 G. Escobar (TTU) def. E. Urbina (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
3. R. Garcia (TTU) def. C. Mears (BYU) 6-3, 7-5
4. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. A. Stabile (TTU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-2)
5. V. Manzini (TTU) vs. S. Smith (BYU) 6-4, 3-6 unfinished
6. R. Pfister (TTU) vs. M. Eraso (BYU) 6-4, 2-6, 5-4 unfinished