LOS -- The BYU men's tennis team competed in its first day at the So Cal Intercollegiate Championships in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Five Cougars participated in the singles qualifying matches, and three will move on to the main draw tomorrow.
"Each win today was an important win," said head coach Brad Pearce.
Sophomore Cassidy Mears defeated Pepperdine's Stuart Keplar before routing Concordia's Olivier Fabre, 6-1, 6-3. Also advancing to the main draw will be freshmen Daniel Hwang and Tom Young, who concluded the evening with wins against opponents from UC-Riverside and UCLA, respectively, to move ahead in play.
These three Cougars will join Jonathan Sanchez, Thomas Shubert and Evan Urbina in the round of 32 tomorrow. Doubles play will also commence with all eight BYU players participating.
"Tomorrow the main draw will start and there will be great competition from the other schools," said Pearce.
Singles play will resume tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Los Angeles Tennis Club, with doubles following at 4:30 p.m. Results from the tournament can be found at http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Tournament.aspx?T=55318.
RESULTS
Singles Qualifying
Round of 32
D. Hwang (BYU) def. A. Fatkhiev (Azusa Pacific) 7-6, 6-2
T. Young (BYU) def. C. Nguyen (Concordia) 6-3, 6-1
C. Mears (BYU) def. S. Keplar (Pepperdine) 6-2, 6-1
R. Dabbs (Azusa Pacific) def. T. Clonts (BYU) 7-5, 6-1
G. Kovacevic (UC-Riverside) def. A. Young (BYU) 6-7, 6-4, 1-0 (6)
Round of 16
D. Hwang (BYU) def. M. Zeidan (UC-Riverside) 6-3, 6-2
T. Young (BYU) def. C. Ho (UCLA) 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 (8)
C. Mears (BYU) def. O. Fabre (Concordia) 6-1, 6-3
Singles Qualifying Consolation
Quarterfinals
T. Clonts (BYU) def. S. Ko (UC Riverside) 6-3, 6-4
A. Young (BYU) def. C. Nguyen (Concordia) 6-1, 6-2