LAS -- Carlos "Panda" Lozano and Erik Nyman claimed first place in the 2002 Omni Hotels Regional Championships on Saturday. The second-seeded team was able to win both their semifinal and final match to win the chance to participate in Nationals in Dallas on Nov. 7-10.

Lozano and Nyman first beat third-seeded Vallentino Pest and Felix Hardt of San Diego State 8-5 in the semifinals before playing the finals in the afternoon. In the finals, they faced and defeated fourth-seeded Marcus Berntson and Guillaume Bouvier of Boise State 9-7.

BYU Head Coach Jim Osborne was very impressed with the play of Lozano and Nyman.

"Panda and Erik played awesome today," Osborne said. "They had some tough losses in singles yesterday, but they were able to bounce back today and win two huge doubles matches. I'm really excited for them and the opportunity they have to play in Nationals."

Nyman and Lozano will be participating in Nationals in Dallas on Nov. 7-10.

Final Day Results
Semifinal Doubles
Berntson/Bouvier (4) (BSU) def. Salazar/Stotland (6) (UNM)	 8-5
Lozano/Nyman (2) (BYU) def. Hardt/Pest (3) (SDSU)		         8-5
Finals Doubles
Lozano/Nyman (2) (BYU) def. Berntson/Bouvier (4) (BSU)	     9-7

LAS -- The BYU men's tennis team travels to Las Vegas this week to participate in the 2002 Omni Hotels Mountain Region Championships, where nearly 100 men's collegiate tennis players will compete.

BYU has had a successful fall season thus far and are looking to add to that success with some competitive play in the Regional Tournament.

Carlos Lozano of BYU, who is ranked No. 91 in the nation, will join five other nationally ranked players that will be in action in the tournament: eight-ranked and top-seeded Oliver Maiberger of San Diego State, No. 70 Guillame Bouvier of Boise State, No. 75 Felix Hardt of SDSU, No. 87 Marcus Berntson of BSU and No. 90 Divan Coetzee of New Mexico. Lozano is the only BYU player to receive a top seed, going into the tournament seeded sixth.

In addition to some of the top singles players in the nation participating in the tournament, three of the top 30 doubles teams will also compete: SDSU's third-ranked duo of Maiberger and Ryan Redondo, No. 13 Lozano and Eric Nyman of BYU and No. 28 Valentino Pest and Hardt of SDSU.

Members from 17 western teams will face off as individuals from Wednesday through Saturday each day in both singles and doubles. For the sixth consecutive year, the Tournament will be held at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the UNLV campus.

The tournament is one of nine regionals across the nation being played this week. Both singles finalists and championship doubles team advance to the 2002 Omni Hotels National Indor Intercollegiate Championships on November 7-10 in Dallas, Texas. The Championships is the second of three national championship events at the Division I level during the 2002-03 collegiate tennis season.

Wednesday's first round, which gets under way at 8 a.m., will feature 27 singles matches and 12 doubles matches. A second round of singles will follow. There will be a consolation draw in singles to ensure each entrant at least two matches.

TEAMS SENDING COMPETITORS			TOP SEEDS
Air Force (AFA)					SINGLES
Boise State (BSU)				1. Oliver Maiberger, SDSU
BYU						     	2. Guillaume Bouvier, BSU
University of Denver (UD)			3. Marcus Berntson, BSU
Eastern Washington (EWU)			4. Felix Hardt, SDSU
Idaho 						5. Divan Coetzee, BSU
Idaho State (ISU)				6. Carlos Lozano, BYU
Montana (UM)					7. Bart Scott, UNM
Montana State (MSU)				8. Shannon Buck, AFA
UNLV
New Mexico (UNM)				DOUBLES
New Mexico State (NMSU)			1. Maiberger/Redondo, SDSU
Northern Arizona (NAU)			2. Lozano/Nyman, BYU
San Diego State (SDSU) 			3. Hardt/Pest, SDSU
Utah (UU)						4. Berntson/Bouvier, BSU
Utah State (USU)
Weber State (WSU)