PROVO -- Starting off strong as invitational hosts, the No. 38 BYU men’s tennis team defeated UC Santa Barbara 4-1 Friday evening at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

“I thought in this match we didn’t play our best at some positions, but we figured out how to get the win and that’s the most important thing,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “Santa Barbara is a good team. They beat us last year and we weren’t going to underestimate them. Now we need to regroup and come back ready for the next to matches tomorrow.”

Georgy Batrakov and Thomas Shubert showed up tough in doubles, snatching an 8-3 win against UCSB’s Mathieu Forget and Benjamin Recknagel. Spencer Smith, a Salt Lake City native, and Roman Warias followed close behind with an 8-4 win against Evan Jurgensen and Philip Therp on Court 3, giving BYU (12-4) the doubles point.

Smith quickly put up BYU’s first singles point, going 6-3, 6-3 against Taylor Chavez Goggin on Court 3. On Court 2, Batrakov soundly defeated Alex Konigsfeldt 6-1, 6-2. Evan Urbina pulled through on Court 1 with consecutive come-from-behind sets to seal Cougar victory.

UCSB’s only point came from Forget, who defeated freshman Patrick Kawka 6-2, 6-4.

The win was BYU’s eighth straight victory. The team remains undefeated on its home court.

Saturday, the Cougars play No. 48 UNC Wilmington at 9:30 a.m. at the indoor courts. William and Mary and UC Santa Barbara will play each other on the outdoor courts at 11 a.m., weather permitting, or immediately following BYU’s match. The final matches of the invitational will begin around 5 p.m.

BYU INVITATIONAL
No. 38 BYU vs. UC Santa Barbara
BYU-4     UCSB-1
Doubles
1. Urbina/Kawka (BYU) vs. Konigsfeldt/Chaves-Goggin (UCSB) 2-6 susp.
2. Shubert/Batrakov (BYU) def. Recknagel/Forget (UCSB) 8-3
3. Warias/Smith (BYU) def. Therp/Jurgensen (UCSB) 8-4
Order: 2, 3
Singles
1. Evan Urbina (BYU) def. Benjamin Recknagel (UCSB) 6-4, 6-4
2. Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Alex Konigsfeldt (UCSB) 6-1, 6-2
3. Spencer Smith (BYU) def. Chavez-Goggin (UCSB) 6-3, 6-3
4. Mathieu Forget (UCSB) def. No. 101 Patrick Kawka (BYU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Thomas Shubert (BYU) vs. Max Glenn (UCSB) susp.
6. Roman Warias (BYU) vs. Philip Therp (UCSB) susp.
Order: 3, 2, 4, 1
William and Mary vs. No. 48 UNC Wilmington
W&M-2     UNCW-4
UNCW-4     W&M-2
Doubles
1. Guthrie/Vidal (W&M) def. Cooprider/Sharma (UNCW) 8-5
2. Blank/Ziamtsou (UNCW) vs. Banks/Orre (W&M) 5-5 susp.
3. Whiteford/Andersson (W&M) def. Mol/Aita (UNCW) 8-5
Singles
1. Michaele Pereira (UNCW) def. Anton Andersson (W&M) 6-1, 6-3
2. Kinshuk Sharma (UNCW) def. Ben Guthrie (W&M) 6-1, 6-1
3. Chris Cooprider (UNCW) def. Jamie Whiteford (W&M) 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (7)
4. Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Kosta Blank (W&M) 7-6, 6-2
5. Rafael Aita (UNCW) def. Adrian Vodislav (W&M) 6-3, 6-1
6. Illia Ziamtsou (UNCW) vs. Ilja Orre (W&M) 2-6, 4-4 susp.
Order of finish: 2, 1, 4, 5, 3

PROVO -- After seven straight wins, the No. 38 BYU men’s tennis team welcomes College of William and Mary, UC Santa Barbara and No. 48 UNC Wilmington to its tennis courts for the BYU Invitational Friday and Saturday.

BYU (11-4) pulled off its ninth sweep of the season against University of the Pacific Saturday and is looking to continue its winning record. Five of the Cougars’ last seven wins were against nationally ranked teams.

Evan Urbina and No. 101 Patrick Kawka lead the team in singles with a 24-8 record and 23-7 record, respectively. Pairing up for doubles, the duo has recorded 18 wins. Georgy Batrakov and Thomas Shubert are undefeated in doubles with a 6-0 record.

W&M is 10-10 on the season, coming off a 5-2 win against Binghamton after a five-match losing streak. Jamie Whiteford and Sebastien Vidal of W&M are the highest ranked doubles team in the tournament at No. 33.

UCSB holds a 6-7 record after winning its last three matches. UNC Wilmington is 13-3 after a home win against Cornell.

The invitational starts with a matchup between W&M and UNCW Friday at 1:30 p.m. at the indoor tennis courts. BYU and UCSB will face off at 6 p.m.

Saturday, BYU takes on UNCW at 9 a.m. while W&M plays UCSB at the outdoor courts, weather permitting. The last matches of the weekend starts at 2 p.m., with BYU playing W&M and UCSB playing UNCW.

Admission to all matches is free. Spectators may park in the “Y Lot” parking lots to the northwest and southwest of the indoor tennis courts after 4 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.