Saturday Brings Nebraska and Campus Kid's Day

PROVO -- With just over half of the regular season gone, the No. 23 BYU men’s tennis team will host No. 36 Nebraska Saturday. The Cougars will also be sponsoring United States Tennis Association (USTA) Campus Kids’ Day at this weekend’s match.

“We have to come out with a lot of energy,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We have to give everything we’ve got at every position, in every match.”

The team spent last weekend at the HEB Tournament of Champions. The Cougars breezed through the opening rounds of the tournament, dropping No. 63 Middle Tennesse 4-1 and DePaul 4-0 to advance to the final round. No. 18 Texas Tech earned the decisive victory and its third consecutive title at the HEB tournament, defeating BYU 4-1. The loss was only the second of the season for the Cougars, who are now 13-2.

Nebraska leapfrogged into the rankings this week, landing at No. 36 after a 6-1 upset of then-No. 35 Arizona Sunday. UA handed BYU its first loss of the season, a 5-2 result, back in February. The Huskers currently own an 8-3 record and defeated the Cougars 4-3 last year in Nebraska. The team has two ranked singles players in No. 113 Christopher Aumuelle and No. 82 Calin Paar along with the No. 54 doubles pair in the country.

“Nebraska is a good, strong team,” Pearce said. “We know we have to be ready to play.”

Saturday’s match will also be part of the United States Tennis Association’s Campus Kids’ Day program. According to the USTA, the purpose of the event is to expose junior players, along with their parents and coaches, to collegiate tennis. All children that attend will be able to stay after the match to meet all of the players and have their team posters personally signed by members of the team.

“This USTA initiative is a way to more formally bring the community into the college tennis experience,” Pearce said.

Match time is set for noon Saturday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, located east of South Field. Admission is free and the team will provide pizza and prizes to fans. All BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public all day Saturday.