PROVO -- Carlos Lozano scored a 6-2 defeat in men's singles to help the Cougars to a 25-20 win over the University of Oklahoma for first place in the WingspanBank.com/World Team Tennis Regional Championships at the BYU indoor tennis courts on Saturday.
Lozano also contributed in men's doubles where he and Gert Vilms defeated Matt Ogle and Chris Mitchell, 6-3. On thewomen's side, Lu Oswald and Jodi Richardson defeated Viviana Mracnova and Annette Bryntesson, 6-4, and in mixed doubles Vilms and Lindsay Ferrell barely defeated Chris Mitchell and Mracnova, 6-5.
"Today was the first time that anyone used the substitutions," said men's coach Jim Osborne, of the World Team Tennis rules that allow one substitution in a set. "Nobody used them yesterday. We subbed right at the start in women's doubles and it was a big momentum swing. From then on, we controlled it until they made a run at the end."
The Cougars won every set except women's singles where Richardson lost to Mracnova, 6-1. BYU advances to the national championships at Stanford University in October.
In the consolation match, Weber State defeated Utah State, 25-19. Behind strong play from Lenka Zacharova, who defeated Sarah Lowe, 6-2, and helped win the women's doubles, 6-0.
The BYU men's team will face UCLA in Los Angeles on January 19, and the women's team will host Northwestern University on January 20, starting at 5 p.m.
BYU 25Oklahoma 20
BYU Oklahoma
Women's doubles 6 4
Men's singles 6 2
Men's doubles 6 3
Women's singles 1 6
Mixed doubles 6 5
The BYU men's and women's tennis teams will host the WingspanBank.com /World Team Tennis Regional Tournament on Friday and Saturday at the BYU indoor tennis courts.
Gert Vilms, Carlos Lozano and newcomer Eric Nyman, from Sweden, will be participating in the tournament for the men and Jodi Richardson, Brooke Ferney and Lu Oswald will be participating for the women.
The tournament will include three male and female players from Utah State, Weber State and the University of Oklahoma.
Ranked women in the tournament include No. 45 Lenka Zacharova from Weber State and BYU's Richardson at No. 53. BYU's Lozano and Vilms are ranked No. 73 and 81 respectively.
The rest of the men's team will be traveling to Boise to participate in the Boise State Tennis Classic, also on Friday and Saturday.
