Tennis Heads to Regional Tournament

PROVO -- Both BYU tennis teams will play in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Regional Championships this week. The men’s team will travel south to Las Vegas while the women’s team will head north to Salt Lake.

The men’s team is a member of the Mountain Region and will be facing conference opponents from the University of Utah, UNLV, New Mexico and Air Force as well as players from 11 other regional universities.

BYU coach Brad Pearce has a two-fold goal for his players this weekend.

“With our returning players and new freshmen, we want to show depth and that we’re strong,” Pearce said. “I would like to see some BYU players go deep in this tournament.”

Several members of the team including Thomas Shubert, Cassidy Mears, Evan Urbina and A.J. Young played last week in the qualifying rounds of the ITA All-American Championships.

The Mountain Region Championships will begin Wednesday at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas and go through Saturday.

As a member of the ITA’s Central Region, the women's team will play opponents from several Mountain West schools including Utah, Wyoming, Air Force, Colorado State and New Mexico. The team will also face players from 15 other universities in the region.

BYU last played two weeks ago in the Cal Nike Invitational in Berkeley. Junior Kristina Doerr also competed last week as a selection in the qualifying rounds of the ITA All-American Championships.

The Cougars will play at the University of Utah tennis courts beginning Wednesday, and the finals will be held Saturday