Cougars Keep Top Spot in Conference

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PROVO -- Cassidy Mears’ three-set win clinched a 4-3 victory over No. 56 San Diego State Friday. With the win, the No. 35 Cougars remained the only undefeated team in the Mountain West Conference and improved to 19-5 on the season.

“The pleasure of coaching is seeing guys under intense pressure playing with heart for their team,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “This is what makes college tennis fun—watching two teams leaving it all on the court when it could go either way.”

In doubles play, Ricardo Campos and Evan Urbina earned the only pairs win, an 8-5 decision on court three. San Diego State took the match at the No. 2 spot at 8-6. Mears and Thomas Shubert forced a tiebreak on court one but fell to give the Aztecs the doubles point.

“I have to tip my hat to San Diego State,” Pearce said. “The team came in here, fought hard and were right there. They deserve a lot of credit.”

Shubert quickly evened the score, handily defeating his opponent 6-4, 6-1 at the No. 1 position. SDSU came back and secured two more wins to extend its lead to 3-1.

“Our guys just don’t quit and that’s what it’s all about,” Pearce said.

For the second time in as many weeks, the Cougars rallied back to win the match. Spencer Smith and Georgy Batrakov recorded straight-set wins to tie the score at three-all. Mears trailed Luis Rattenhuber 4-2 in the first set before coming back to win 6-4. Rattenhuber came back and won the second 6-3. In the critical third set, BYU’s captain found himself down 4-2 again. He won four consecutive games to clinch the match for the Cougars.

Saturday, BYU will play its last home match of the season. The squad will face No. 58 UNLV at 1 p.m. at the Outdoor Tennis Courts. Admission is free, and the team will provide pizza for fans. All BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public all day Saturday.

Results
No. 35 BYU-4
No. 56 SDSU-3
Doubles
1. Vladimirschii/Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Mears/Shubert (BYU) 9-8 (7-4)
2. Gomez/Rattenhuber (SDSU) def.  Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) 8-6
3. Campos/Urbina (BYU) def. Feliz/Schulz van Endert (SDSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
1. T. Shubert (BYU) def. A. Vladimirschii (SDSU) 6-4, 6-1
2. J. Gomez (SDSU) def. E. Urbina (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
3. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. G. Vaglietti (SDSU) 6-2, 6-3
4. C. Mears (BYU) def. L. Rattenhuber (SDSU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
5. S. Smith (BYU) def. A. Feliz (SDSU) 6-4, 6-3
6. T. Schulz van Endert (SDSU) def. R. Campos (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 6, 5, 3, 4