PROVO -- The No. 66 BYU men's tennis team ended the regular season play today tacking on a 5-2 win over the Montana State Bobcats to finish the regular season 8-14 overall and 2-2 in conference.
After losing the doubles point early in the match, the Cougars had to dig deep to push past the Bobcats by winning five of the six singles matches.
"It's tough when you lose the doubles point against a good team," head coach Brad Pearce said. "I'm proud of how our guys pulled it together to win the singles even when we lost the doubles point.
BYU will enter the Mountain Conference Championship next Thursday behind No. 1 seed New Mexico to compete for the conference title and a bid to the NCAA tournament.
BYU 5, MSU 2Doubles:
MSU def. Nyman/Roshan (BYU) 8-5
Dasek/Nyman (BYU) def. MSU 9-8
MSU def. Hand/Medina (BYU) 8-6
Singles:
Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Federico Ueltschi 7-5, 4-6, 6-2
Marek Gebicki (MSU) def. Richard Dasek (BYU) 6-7, 3-6, 6-3
Chip Hand (BYU) def. Tejeshwara Chigateri (MSU) 6-2, 6-1
Nima Roshan (BYU) def. Braden Olsen (MSU) 6-1, 6-1
Ivan Kokufin (BYU) def. Adam Stutts (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
Alonzo Medina (BYU) def. Jake Berriocho (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
PROVO -- Making up its rained out match against UNLV, the No. 66-ranked BYU men's tennis team (7-14, 2-2) will host one final match at home Saturday April 24 at Noon against Montana State.
According to NCAA regulations, each collegiate team is allowed a certain amount of matches, or events, each season. The Cougars lost out on one event in Las Vegas on March 27 when unforeseen weather caused them to cancel play against conference foe UNLV.
"Montana State has a good team," head coach Brad Pearce said. "Losing out on the match opportunity against UNLV last month hurt our chances of improving our ranking. We needed a chance play one more to make it up so we're glad we can play this last one. And, it's great preparation for the upcoming conference championship."
Montana State has posted a 14-4 overall record this season. The Bobcats downed Big Sky Conference powerhouse Sacramento State on Sunday in a 4-3 finish. Leading the Bobcats this season is Federico Ueltschi, from Mendoza, Argentina.
