BYU Tennis Takes Third at Preseason Tournament

BYU started the 2001-2002 tennis season on the right foot this weekend finishing tied for third at the World Team Tennis National Collegiate Championships in San Diego. Three women and two men led the Cougars to a semifinal placing at the 16-team tournament.

BYU would have met Alabama in the third place match, but did not play because it would have been played on Sunday. Alabama and BYU shared third place for the tournament.

BYU went undefeated in pool play to advance to the semifinals. On Friday, BYU defeated San Diego 27-18, then knocked off Texas A&M 26-19 in the afternoon. BYU beat Oklahoma City 26-21 Saturday morning to advance to the semifinals.

In the semifinals, South Alabama handed the Cougars their first loss of the tournament, 29-16. BYU's highly talented doubles team of Gert Vilms and Carlos Lozano scored the only victory in the match, winning their doubles match 6-5.

The team format allowed substitutions within the match and a unique scoring system that determined the winner by most games won, not necessarily matches. The scoring format helped Oklahoma State walk away with the title, defeating South Alabama 27-20 in the final. South Alabama actually won three of the five matches in the final, but Oklahoma State won more games and was named the champions of this year's tournament. It was the first time South Alabama had lost in the WTT Championships.

Brooke Beverly, Lu Oswald and Lindsay Ferrellrepresented the women for the Cougars. Vilms and Lozano played for the men. Women's head coach Craig Manning coached the Cougars at the event.