Palo Alto, Calif. (March 2, 2009) – It was a weekend full of tough matches for the No. 60 BYU men’s tennis team, which dropped two on the road. The Cougars fell to Pacific 5-2 before being swept by No. 7 Stanford 6-0.

Pacific took the lead quickly, securing the doubles point after wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 position. Cassidy Mears and Daniel Hwang won the only doubles match for the Cougars 8-6 on court two.

Mears continued his solid performance for BYU in singles play. The junior notched a win at No. 5 to tie things up at 1-1. But the Tigers responded in dominant fashion, taking matches at courts two, six and one to clinch the win.

Freshman Roman Warias contributed the Cougars’ second and final point with a straight-set win at No. 3. Fellow freshman Georgy Batrakov edged out his opponent to capture the first set before falling in the second and dropping the tiebreak.

Monday brought a talented Stanford team. In the interest of time, no doubles matches were played. BYU’s great effort was not enough to overcome the Cardinal, who handily won matches on courts three, five and six.

Warias and Batrakov put up a fight in the first set, forcing their respective matches to a seventh game, but both eventually fell to their Stanford opponents. Sophomore Evan Urbina won the first set over No. 13 Alex Clayton but lost the second and third to complete the sweep for the Cardinal.

With the results, the Cougars fall to 7-4 on the season. The team will travel to Texas next week to play in the HEB Invitational hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Match Results 
Pacific- 5
BYU- 2
Doubles 
Moritz Starke/Renan Delsin (PAC) def. Evan Urbina/Thomas Shubert (BYU), 8-5
Daniel Hwang/Cassidy Mears (BYU) def. Artem Gramma/Ryan Kim (PAC), 8-6
Karl-Erik Paaro/Christian Kuehne (PAC) def. A.J. Young/Georgy Batrakov (BYU), 8-6
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2 
Singles
1. Moritz Starke (PAC) def. Evan Urbina (BYU), 6-3, 7-5
2. Artem Gramma (PAC) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU), 6-3, 6-1
3. Roman Warias (BYU) def. Renan Delsin (PAC), 7-5, 7-5
4. Vegerd Veskimagi (PAC) def. Georgy Batrakov (BYU), 6-7 (6), 7-5, 1-0 (8)
5. Cassidy Mears (BYU) def. Karl-Erik Paaro (PAC), 6-1, 6-0
6. Christian Kuehne (PAC) def. Daniel Hwang (BYU), 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 
5, 2, 6, 1, 3, 4
Stanford-6
BYU-0
Doubles (did not play)
1) No. 28 Wire/ Blake Muller (STAN) d. Urbina/Young (BYU)
2) Thacher/Clayton (STAN) d. Mears/Daniel Hwang (BYU)
3) Klahn/Kelly (STAN) d. Shubert/Batrakov (BYU)
Singles
1) No. 13 Alex Clayton (STAN) d. Evan Urbina (BYU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
2) No. 47 Bradley Klahn (STAN) d. Roman Warias (BYU) 7-5, 6-2*
3) Ryan Thacher (STAN) d. Thomas Shubert (BYU) 6-0, 6-4
4) No. 117 Richard Wire (STAN) d. Georgy Batrakov (BYU) 7-6, 6-4
5) Greg Hirshman (STAN) d. Cassidy Mears (BYU) 6-1, 6-2
6) Ted Kelly (STAN) d. A.J. Young (BYU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 5, 2, 4, 1

PROVO -- Coming off a 4-3 upset over No. 48 Denver, the No. 65 BYU men’s tennis team will play two matches in Calif. this weekend. The Cougars look to build on their 7-2 record against Pacific Saturday and No. 7 Stanford Monday. The team is off to its best start since the 2000 season.

“We want to go down and compete well,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We want to continue to do the things that have helped us have success so far this season.”

Pacific is currently 3-3 on the season and earned its first home win of the season last week, a 6-1 victory over Loyola Marymount. The Cougars beat the Tigers 5-2 last year after five of six singles matches went to three sets.

“We’re looking to come back with a win and play well,” Pearce said.

BYU will have one day to recover before taking on Stanford Monday. The Cardinal is 8-1, dropping one match to No. 3 Georgia. The most recent result was a 7-0 sweep of St. Mary’s.

Stanford boasts two players ranked in the top 50 in sophomore No. 13 Alex Clayton and freshman No. 47 Bradley Klahn. One doubles pair also represents the Cardinal in the rankings coming in at No. 28. The team swept BYU when the two met in Calif. last season.

“Being outdoors against a tough Stanford team will be a challenge,” Pearce said.

Saturday’s match begins at noon and play starts at 1 p.m. Monday. For live stats during the Stanford match, click here.