PROVO, Utah -- Securing the title of Mountain West Conference Champions, the No. 35 BYU men’s tennis team struck down rival Utah 6-1 to go undefeated in league play. The victory also gave the Cougars the 2011 Deseret First Duel men's tennis title.

“We just had to forget the rivalry, forget the conference championship and focus on what we’ve been doing all year, which is coming out and competing,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We’ve focused on playing one match at a time.”

With the win against Utah (7-14, 1-5), BYU recorded its second straight 6-0 conference season after taking the title in 2010. The Cougars end the regular season with a 19-5 overall record.

“Last year, winning the regular season title was incredible and to do it again is amazing,” Pearce said. “It’s so hard to be as good as you need to be in conference play. You can’t have any bad days or let up at all. I think this shows the mental strength these guys have.”

The Utes suffered a tough loss at the No. 1 position in doubles when Benito Suriano, who was also scheduled to play No. 1 singles, was forced to retire due to a knee injury. The Utah duo defaulted to Cougars No. 80 Georgy Batrakov and Senior Thomas Shubert after going up 2-1 to start the match.

With one doubles match already clinched for BYU, senior Evan Urbina and Patrick Kawka pulled out a strong 8-3 finish against Matt Cowley of Salt Lake City and Garrett LaBarre to take the doubles point. Senior Roman Warias and Spencer Smith fell 8-4 to Utes Dmytro Mamedov and Devin Lane, also from Salt Lake City, after the point was secured.

Singles play started at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts, but only Warias completed a set before all matches were suspended and moved to the indoor courts due to rain. After a brief break, Batrakov came through with the first singles win of the afternoon, defeating Lane 6-4, 6-1 to put BYU up 2-0.

Utah’s Medinilla scored the only point for Utah, taking the tiebreaker in the first set and winning the second for a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win against Smith, a Salt Lake City native.

With the score now at 2-1, Shubert struck down Ben Tasevac 6-4, 6-2. No. 107 Kawka, after a comeback to take the first set and losing the second, rallied for a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 defeat of Cowley, sealing the win and the Deseret First Duel trophy for the Cougars.

Warias, whose singles match was suspended until one of the first four matches finished on the indoor courts, added the Cougars’ fifth point in a straight-set win against LaBarre, who stepped into the singles lineup after Suriano was injured (6-1, 6-3). Team captain Urbina fell behind 4-6 in his first set at the No. 1 position against Mamedov, but took the second 7-5 and kept up the momentum to finish the three-hour match 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, bringing the overall score to 6-1.

“My heart goes out the Suriano,” Pearce said. “His injury was unfortunate both for him and his team. Utah did a nice job being down one man.”

The match finished regular season for the Cougars, who will play Friday at 2 p.m. in the Mountain West Conference tournament in Fort Collins, Colo.

No. 35 BYU vs. Utah
BYU-6     Utah-1
Doubles
1. No. 80 Batrakov/Shubert (BYU) def. Medinilla/Suriano (UTAH) 1-2 (ret.)
2. Urbina/Kawka (BYU) def. Cowley/LaBarre (UTAH) 8-3
3. Mamedov/Lane (UTAH) def. Smith/Warias (BYU) 8-4
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. Evan Urbina (BYU) def. Dmytro Mamedov (UTAH) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
2. Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Devin Lane (UTAH) 6-4, 6-1
3. Alejandro Medinilla (UTAH) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 7-6 (4), 6-4
4. No. 107 Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Matt Cowley (UTAH) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
5. Thomas Shubert (BYU) def. Ben Tasevac (UTAH) 6-4, 6-2
6. Roman Warias (BYU) def. Garrett LaBarre (UTAH) 6-1, 6-3
Order of finish: 2, 3, 5, 4, 6, 1

PROVO, Utah -- Taking a break from conference play before the last regular season match, the No. 36 BYU men’s tennis team faces No. 8 Stanford Tuesday and rival Utah Saturday.

BYU (18-4, 5-0) will play Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif. At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The match against Utah will be played at 1 p.m. Saturday at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting.

A win against Utah would secure the regular season Conference Champions title for the Cougars, their second consecutive win of the title.

Cougars Georgy Batrakov and Thomas Shubert pulled off impressive doubles wins against No. 54 New Mexico and Air Force Thursday and Saturday, respectively, downing Lobos No. 57 Phil Anderson and Jadon Phillips and Falcons Lance Wilhelm and Steven Young. The duo is 12-1 on the season.

Batrakov holds a 17-match winning streak in singles with a 19-2 record. Freshman No. 110 Patrick Kawka is 28-8 overall in singles and Spencer Smith of Salt Lake City is 22-4.

Stanford (14-5, 4-1) is led by No. 10 Bradley Klahn (21-9 in singles), No. 43 Ryan Thatcher (19-11) and No. 71 Alex Clayton (18-9). No. 4 Klahn and Thatcher team up for doubles with a 32-4 record and Clayton teams up with Ted Kelly, the No. 69 doubles team, with a 10-7 record.

The Utes are 7-13 on the season and 1-4 in conference. Alejandro Medinilla leads the team with a 16-15 singles record. Benito Suriano leads in conference play with a 3-2 record. In doubles, Medinilla and Suriano are 6-6 overall.

A ceremony honoring BYU’s three seniors—Thomas Shubert, Evan Urbina and Roman Warias—will be held after Saturday’s match. The team will also honor former coaches and alumni during the 10-minute break between doubles and singles.

All fans wearing blue Saturday will received a ticket for a free JDawgs hot dog. Fans can win Roger Federer posters and other prizes in a raffle between doubles and singles play.

Spectators may park in the Y Lot parking lots northwest and south of the outdoor courts. Admission is free.