LINCOLN -- The first day of a weekend road trip to the Midwest ended with a 6-1 win for the No. 66 BYU men’s tennis team. The Cougars dominated No. 75 Southern Mississippi to improve their record to 9-7.

“We got a great performance out of everybody,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “Everyone fought hard and competed well.”

The team, which has recently struggled with doubles, played new combinations in the match against USM. Freshmen Georgy Batrakov and Roman Warias handily defeated their opponents 8-3 at the No. 1 position. Tiebreak wins by BYU duos on courts two and three completed the first Cougar doubles sweep in a month of play.

“We got off to a great start, and the doubles sweep gave us a lot of confidence,” Pearce said.

Batrakov kept things rolling in singles play, making quick work of his Golden Eagles foe on court five. Thomas Shubert’s win at the No. 3 position put the Cougars one point away from victory. A loss on court one gave Southern Miss its only point of the day.

Junior Cassidy Mears clinched the victory for BYU with a 6-4, 7-6 win on court four. Warias and Daniel Hwang also notched wins at the No. 2 and No. 6 positions respectively to earn the 6-1 scoreline.

“I was pleased to see us play so well at every position against a competitive team,” Pearce said. “It was a good win for us.”

BYU will continue play Saturday against No. 53 Nebraska. The match will start at 7 p.m. at the Nebraska Tennis Center.

Match Results
BYU-6
Southern Mississippi-1
Doubles
1. Batrakov/Warias (BYU) def. Burmeister/Poole (USM) 8-3
2. Mears/Urbina (BYU) def. #64Alvarado/Wessinghage (USM) 9-8 (3)
3. Hwang/Shubert (BYU) def. Anic/D. Machuca (USM) 8-7 (5)
Singles
1. #97P. Alvarado (USM) def. E. Urbina (BYU) 6-4, 7-6
2. R. Warias (BYU) def. D. Anic (USM) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4
3. T. Shubert (BYU) def. D. Machuca (USM) 6-3, 7-5
4. C. Mears (BYU) def. O. Machuca (USM) 6-4, 7-6
5. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. J. Burmeister (USM) 6-1, 6-2
6. D. Hwang (BYU) def. S. Krstevski (USM) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1

PROVO -- BYU will travel to Nebraska this weekend to face No. 75 Southern Mississippi Friday and No. 53 Nebraska Saturday. The 8-7 Cougars are looking to turn things around after a 4-3 loss to No. 26 Boise State last week.

“We’ve not done well in doubles, which has been the factor in close matches,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “This week we’ve tried some different combinations and hope they will help us to win the doubles point.”

The team will need every point they can get against a tough Nebraska squad. The Huskers are 11-2 on the season and are coming off three consecutive sweeps over the weekend. BYU and NU are tied 1-1 all-time but have not competed against each other in the last ten years.

“Nebraska is a great, athletic team so it’s a good opportunity for us,” Pearce said.

Saturday will bring Southern Miss, which currently owns an 8-4 record. The Golden Eagles ended their three-match winning streak with a 5-2 loss to No. 36 Rice last week.

USM has one ranked singles player, with freshman Patricio Alvarado cracking into the top 100 at No. 97. Alvarado also pairs with Markus Wessinghage to claim the No. 64 spot. BYU earned a 4-3 win when the teams last met in 2001.

“We’ve got two tough matches against two ranked team,” Pearce said. “Our goal is to come back with two wins.”

Both matches will be played at the Nebraska Tennis Center and begin at 7 p.m.