Cougars Eliminated From Regionals

PROVO -- The BYU men's tennis team was able to win a big first-round match over in-state rival Utah before losing to San Diego State in the semifinals of the Region VII Team Indoor Tournament in Las Vegas on Friday.

"The win over Utah was an emotional win for us, but San Diego State was just too tough," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "It was the second match of the day for us and we just ran out of gas. It was tough for our guys."

The Cougars opened the tournament with a 4-3 win over the Utes. Utah was able to capture the doulbes point by winning two of the three doubles matches. But the Cougars came back in singles winning four of the six matches. Carlos Lozano continued his dominant pre-season play with a big win over Roeland Brateanu 7-6, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot. Teammates Erik Nyman, Jose Lechuga and Alonzo Medina supplied the other three single's wins.

After a tough first round match, BYU didn't have enough to beat top-seeded SDSU. The only win for the Cougars came in doubles with Jose Lechuga and Anton Rudjuk beating No. 28 nationally-ranked Felix Hardt and Valentino Pest at the No. 2 spot. The Aztecs won the other two doubles matches to capture the doubles point.

In singles, SDSU quickly won three matches to win the match 4-0.

"Not winning the doubles point against San Diego State really deflated us," Osborne said. "But they are a great team and today they were just too tough."

The Cougars will play New Mexico on Saturday for a chance to finish third in the tournament.

1st Round Results - BYU def. Utah, 4-3
Singles
Carlos Lozano (BYU) def. Roeland Brateanu (UU)   7-6, 6-3
Erik Nyman (BYU) def.  Daniel Lohff (UU)         6-3, 7-5
Tyler Poulson (UU) def. Anton Rudjuk (BYU)       6-3, 3-6, 6-3
Jose Lechuga (BYU) def. Nick Coutts (UU)         6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Tomasz Grzyb (UU) def. Jeff Olsen (BYU)          7-6, 6-1
Alonzo Medina (BYU) def. Kaisorn Chaichana (UU)  7-6, 6-4
Doubles
Lozano/Nyman (BYU) and Brateanu/Grzyb (UU)       DNF
Poulson/Coutts (UU) def. Rudjuk/Lechuga (BYU)    8-4
Lohff/Chaichana (UU) def. Olsen/Medina (BYU)     8-6
2nd Round Results - SDSU def. BYU, 4-0
Singles
Oliver Maiberger (SDSU) and Lozano (BYU)         DNF
Felix Hardt (SDSU) and Nyman (BYU)               DNF
Ryan Redondo (SDSU) def. Rudjuk (BYU)            6-3, 6-2
Jung (SDSU) def. Lechuga (BYU)                   6-4, 6-3
Valentino Pest (SDSU) def. Olsen (BYU)           6-4, 6-3
Gabe Coren (SDSU) and Medina (BYU)               DNF
Doubles
Maiberger/Redondo (SDSU) def. Lozano/Nyman (BYU) 9-7
Rudjuk/Lechuga (BYU) def. Hardt/Pest (BYU)       9-8
Jung/Coren (SDSU) def. Olsen/Medina (BYU)        8-4

PROVO -- The BYU men's tennis team will participate in the Region VII Team Indoor Tournament in Las Vegas this week. The tournament is a qualifying event that will send the top team in the region to Louisville, Ky. as one of 16 teams to compete in the National Team Indoor Championships in February.

BYU goes into the tournament seeded fourth and will be playing fifth-seeded Utah Friday morning. The winner of that round will go on to play top-seeded San Diego State later that afternoon.

BYU head coach Jim Osborne said his team's chances are good to do well in regionals.

"This tournament gives us a chance to get into the national tournament," Osborne said. "Getting into the national tournament would give us an opportunity to play top-25 teams that we don't traditionally play during the season."

The Cougars have had a successful fall season thus far. Osborne is looking to add to that success with some competitive play in the regional tournament.

"Because this tournament is indoors, I think we might have a slight advantage over those teams that don't play indoors as much as we do," Osborne said.

Carlos Lozano of BYU, who is ranked No. 91 in the nation, will be one 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 and No. 87 Marcus Berntson of BSU.

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.

Tournament Seedings
1) San Diego State 
2) New Mexico
3) Boise State
4) BYU
5) Utah
6) New Mexico State (will not compete)