Two is Better Than One for Cougars

PROVO -- In front of an energized crowd, the No. 64 BYU men’s tennis team came away with wins over Weber State and Utah State Friday. The Cougars tallied 7-0 sweeps against both teams en route to their first two victories of the year.

"They were fun matches with an awesome crowd and great atmosphere," BYU coach Brad Pearce said. "It was a great day to be a BYU tennis player."

George Batrakov and Daniel Hwang notched the first win on the day for the Cougars, overpowering their WSU opponents 8-2 on court three. BYU secured the doubles point when Thomas Shubert and Cassidy Mears defeated Sascha Kiehne and Simon Unger at the No. 1 spot. The Wildcats were able to take one of the three doubles matches with a victory on court two.

BYU sailed through singles with wins by Batrakov, Evan Urbina and Shubert clinching the Cougars’ first victory of the season. Mears found himself in a battle with Wildcat Kiehne at the No. 3 spot. The Cougar captain edged out his opponent 7-6 in a first set tiebreak and then put the match away 6-4 in the second.

Roman Warias and Michael Eraso were the last to take the court for the final two matches and both defeated their respective opponents in straight sets to complete the sweep for BYU.

"Everybody got a little match experience and a little taste of what it's like to play collegiate tennis," Pearce said.

In the second match, Utah State stayed with the Cougars stroke-for-stroke to start doubles play. The tide soon turned and all three of the BYU duos were able to gain the advantage over their challengers, collecting the second doubles point of the day.

The Cougars left nothing to chance, quickly recording wins on courts one, four and three to seal the victory. Urbina, at the No. 2 position, had the only three-set match of the contest. The junior won the first set 6-4 before dropping the second 6-1. He was down 3-0 in the third before storming back to win six games in a row and give BYU a five-point lead.

BYU racked up two more wins to earn its second sweep and improve its record to 2-0 on the season.

"Weber State and Utah State came ready to play," Pearce said. "We had to dig deep in both matches to do as well as we did."

The men’s team will resume the season next week against No. 4 UCLA in Los Angeles.

BYU-7
Weber State-0
Doubles
1. Mears/Shubert (BYU) def. Kiehne/Unger (WSU) 8-4
2. Hipp/Marchant (WSU) def. Urbina/Warias (BYU) 8-6 
3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Paterson/Hintze (WSU) 8-2
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. T. Shubert (BYU) def. H. Hipp (WSU) 6-4, 6-3
2. E. Urbina (BYU) def. S. Unger (WSU) 6-3, 6-1
3. C. Mears (BYU) def. S. Kiehne (WSU) 7-6, 6-4
4. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. S. Marchant (WSU) 6-2, 6-1
5. R. Warias (BYU) def. C. Paterson (WSU) 7-5, 6-2
6. M. Eraso (BYU) def. D. Hintze (WSU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6
BYU-7
Utah State-0
Doubles
1. Mears/Shubert (BYU) def. Asplund/Marchant (USU) 8-4
2. Campos/Urbina (BYU) def. Maharaj/Poslusny (USU) 8-6 
3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Ballam/Thatcher (USU) 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles
1. T. Shubert (BYU) def. J. Asplund (USU) 6-3, 6-2
2. E. Urbina (BYU) def. S. Poslusny (USU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
3. C. Mears (BYU) def. B. Marchant (USU) 6-3, 6-2
4. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. A. Maharaj (USU) 6-1, 6-4
5. R. Warias (BYU) def. A. Thatcher (USU) 7-6, 6-4
6. M. Eraso (BYU) def. N. Ballam (USU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 3, 2, 6, 5