Provo, UT. (Mar. 1, 2002) -- On its home opener of the season, the Cougar men's tennis team made a clean sweep of instate rival Utah State 7-0 in tennis action, Friday. The win improves BYU's record to 3-5 on the year.

After easily winning all three doubles matches for the 1-0 lead, the Cougar men didn't stop there, going on to win all six singles matches in straight sets.

"It's nice to be able to play at home after one of our toughest road schedules yet," said head coach Jim Osborne. "We came out on fire and dominated doubles play which is something we've been wanting to do and kept up that intensity right through the singles matches," added Osborne.

BYU's No. 1 doubles duo of Carlos Lozano and Gert Vilms, who are ranked 17th nationally, took the early lead defeating the Aggies' Andreas Madersbacher and Clayton Thomas 8-6. Then the number two duo of Jeff Harbach and Jeff Olsen followed suit with their 8-2 victory over Jordan Butler and Sam Harris. At the number three doubles position it was BYU's Erik Nyman from Sweden and Provo native Nic Losee beating Utah State's Jason Trask and Steve Peterson for the sweep in doubles play.

All of the six singles matches were won by the Cougars. The last singles match to get off the court was at the number five spot where BYU's Anton Rudjuk defeated the Aggies' Steve Peterson 6-2, 6-1.

The Cougars continue their home stance with a match against Portland, Saturday at 6 p.m.

FINAL RESULTS

DOUBLES

No. 1 Vilms/Lozano (BYU) def. Thomas/Madersbacher (USU) 8-6

No. 2 Jeff Harbach/Jeff Olsen (BYU) def. Butler/Harris (USU)) 8-2

No. 3 Nyman/Losee (BYU) def. Trask/Peterson (USU) 8-4

BYU WINS DOUBLES POINT

SINGLES

No. 1 Carlos Lozano (BYU) def. Andreas Madersbacher (BYU) 6-2, 6-4

No. 2 Gert Vilms (BYU) def. Clayton Thomas (USU)6-1,6-2

No. 3 Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Jason Trask (BYU) 6-0, 6-2

No. 4 Nic Losee (BYU) def. Jordan Butler (USU) 6-2, 6-2

No. 5 Anton Rudjuk (BYU) def. Steve Peterson (USU) 6-2, 6-1

No. 6 Jose Luis Lechuga (BYU) def. Sam Harris (USU) 6-0, 6-1

BYU WINS MATCH 7-0 Cougs Shut Out Aggies In Men's Tennis

PROVO -- With several long road trips of experience already under its belt, the No. 62 BYU men's tennis team finally gets a home match Friday night. The Cougars (2-5) will host Utah State Friday at 6 p.m., and Portland on Saturday at 6 p.m. as well.

The Cougars most recent road trip was to California, where the Cougars lost to Fresno State and Southern Cal, but beat UC Irvine in the last match of the trip. BYU gained confidence on the trip and head coach Jim Osborne is excited to finally play in front of the hometown fans.

"We only have three home matches so we need to make sure we take care of business," Osborne said.

Carlos Lozano and Gert Vilms continue to play well in doubles play. The tandem is currently ranked No. 17 in the nation, and Lozano has moved up to No. 138 in singles. But Osborne thinks the doubles teams can do even better than they already are.

"We thought our doubles would be better than it has so far," Osborne said. "Our goal is to sweep the doubles this weekend to get us back on track."

Utah State should look very familiar, as BYU faced the Aggies in the BYU Invitational in October. Andreas Madersbacher leads the Aggies and plays at the No. 1 position, but Utah State always pumps itself up before the BYU match.

"Utah State has very good fighers," Osborne said. "We can't take them lightly. This match is really important for them."

Like Utah State, Portland is not ranked. But Portland has a couple players, Peter Malacek and Travis Parrott, that should give BYU strong competition in Saturday's match.

"Their top two players are as good as we'll see all season," Osborne said.

BYU will also be at home next week facing Denver. The match will be next Friday and then the Cougars will be on the road for the rest of the season.