Nyman, Medina and Rudjuk Help Beat Denver, 4-3

PROVO -- In a dual match that came down to the last match of the day, the No. 66 BYU men's tennis team edged the University of Denver 4-3 on Saturday.

"This is a great win for us," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "I knew we were in for a battle, but our guys came out strong and really showed what they were made of."

The Cougars came out strong and captured the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. Jose Lechuga and Anton Rudjuk overpowered Jason Tan and Hans Peter Gaber 8-2 at the No. 2 spot while Jeff Olsen and Alonso Medina beat Viktor Zetterholm and Colin Day 8-4 at No. 3. The 11th-ranked Carlos Lozano and Erik Nyman lost in a tough match at the No. 1 position to Urban Ljubic and Nejc Smole, 8-6.

"I thought we played really good doubles today," said Osborne. "Erik and Carlos haven't played in a real match in over a month so I thought they might come our a little rusty. But our goal was to win the doubles point and we were able to do that."

In singles, Nyman continued his tough play by beating Ljubic 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1. Denver was able to win the matches at the next three positions, but Medina won at No. 4 by beating Tan 6-4, 6-2. The result of the match came down to the No. 6 position. Rudjuk came back from one set down to surpass Day 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and claim the victory on behalf of the Cougars.

"I thought we played as well as we have all year against Denver," said Osborne. "We had a lot of energy and came out focused and ready to play."

The Cougars will be back in action next week as they travel to California to play UC Santa Barbara on Saturday (March 15).

No. 66 BYU def. University of Denver, 4-3
Doubles
Ljubic/Smole (DU) def. No. 11 Lozano/Nyman (BYU) 	8-6
Lechuga/Rudjuk (BYU) def. Tan/Gaber (DU)		        8-2
Medina/Olsen (BYU) def. Zetterholm/Day (DU)		     8-4
Singles
Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Urban Ljubic (DU) 			       6-3, 6-1
Nejc Smole (DU) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU)			       6-7, 6-4, 6-4
Hans Peter Gaber (DU) def. Jose Lechuga (BYU)		   6-3, 6-3
Viktor Zetterholm (DU) def. Jeff Olsen (BYU)		    4-6, 6-4, 6-3
Alonso Medina (BYU) def. Jason Tan (DU)			        6-4, 6-2
Anton Rudjuk (BYU) def. Colin Day (DU)			         4-6, 6-3, 6-3

PROVO -- The No. 66 BYU men's tennis team (5-3) will be at home again this Saturday as they host the University of Denver at 11 a.m. at the BYU indoor tennis courts.

Despite having the top two players, Erik Nyman and Carlos Lozano, out last week, the Cougars beat Utah State 6-1. Sophomore Jose Lechuga, this week's MWC Player of the Week, stepped into the No. 1 singles and doubles spots and came up with big wins for the Cougars against the Aggies.

Having Lozano and Nyman out of the lineup last weekend, BYU head coach Jim Osborne hopes they will be able to come back and play well.

"Before the Utah State match, we didn't have a match since the beginning of February so Erik and Carlos haven't played in a match for almost a month now," said Osborne. "It will be interesting to see if they come out rusty or ready to play."

Denver comes into this weekend's match having won its last five matches, including big wins over Creighton and DePaul.

"The University of Denver is a good, solid team," said Osborne. "Their top players are always tough, but I'm not sure about their depth. We need to be ready for them and not take them lightly."

Osborne said that the team will have some goals for this week's match.

"We are really going to focus on doubles this match," said Osborne. "The doubles point is so important for us, so winning that point will be our goal. Our serving percentage could be better as well, so we'll be focusing on that."

After facing Denver this week, the Cougars will be on the road against UC Santa Barbara on March 15 (Saturday).

After the men's tennis match, the BYU women's tennis team will be in action with No. 15 Notre Dame at 3 p.m.