Tough Play Earns First Conference Win

SALT LAKE -- In its first conference win of the season, the BYU men’s tennis team upset No. 65 UNLV, 6-1. With the win, the Cougars improve to 1-2 against Mountain West opponents and 13-10 on the season.

“It was a tough UNLV team with great competitors,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “I couldn’t be more proud of what they guys accomplished.”

UNLV took the first doubles match, winning 8-3 on court one. But courts two and three belonged to the Cougars with both BYU pairs taking their respective matches 8-5 to earn the point. The team is 10-0 on the season when winning the doubles point.

Junior Cassidy Mears continued the scoring for the Cougars picking up a point after his 6-2, 6-1 win on court four. UNLV’s Elliot Wronski notched the lone win for the Rebels with a straight-set victory at the No. 1 position.

BYU kept rolling with a 6-4, 6-4 win by Daniel Hwang on court six. The Cougars needed to win only one of the three remaining matches to clinch their first conference victory.

“We’re still a young team. Guys need more play, more experience in big matches,” Pearce said. “We played much better today than yesterday, and I’m pleased with that.”

Just getting the win wasn’t enough for BYU, however, and the Cougars took all three remaining matches. Thomas Shubert secured the victory after his win at the No. 3 position. Georgy Batrakov and Evan Urbina followed suit, recording three-set wins on courts five and two, respectively, to end the match at 6-1.

“I’m leaving here dwelling on a great win and not two losses,” Pearce said. “I’m looking forward to next week.”

The team will continue conference play in San Diego next weekend against No. 37 San Diego State, Air Force and No. 36 New Mexico.

Match Results
BYU- 6
No. 65 UNLV- 1
Doubles
1. No. 79 Barlocchi/Wronski (UNLV) def. Batrakov/Young (BYU) 8-3
2. Hwang/Shubert (BYU) def. Toth/Wulff (UNLV) 8-5
3. Mears/Urbina (BYU) def. Bouras/Burrows (UNLV) 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. E. Wronski (UNLV) def. R. Warias (BYU) 6-0, 6-4
2. E. Urbina (BYU) def. M. Bouras (UNLV) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
3. T. Shubert (BYU) def. L. Barlocchi (UNLV) 7-6, 6-2
4. C. Mears (BYU) def. W. Burrows (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
5. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. A. Toth (UNLV) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
6. D. Hwang (BYU) def. M. Kunkel (UNLV) 6-4, 6-4    
Order of finish: 4, 1, 6, 3, 5, 2