FRESNO -- The BYU men's tennis team, playing for the first time in more than two weeks, came close to upsetting No. 44 Fresno State on the road before losing the match 5-2. The No. 60 Cougars (1-4, 0-0) won the doubles point, but couldn't win enough single matches to defeat the Bulldogs.
The No. 10 doubles tandem in the country, Carlos Lozano and Gert Vilms, won its fourth straight match at the No. 1 spot, 8-4 over the team of Almada/Shearer. Erik Nyman and Nic Losee, playing at the No. 3 spot, clinched the doubles point by beating Krohn/Suta 9-8. Jeff Harbach and Jeff Olsen lost 9-7 at the No. 2 spot.
In singles play, Anton Rudjuk was the only Cougar to record a win on the day. Rudjuk won at No. 5, defeating Dustin Ilic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. While the Cougars lost the other five matches, they had their chances in almost every match.
Vilms, Lozano, Nyman and Losee all lost in three sets. Vilms and Nyman both won the first set of their matches, but could not hang on. Nyman's loss was the first of the dual-match season. Rudjuk's win broke a personal three-match losing streak.
The Cougars will play No. 4 Southern California Tuesday in Los Angeles. BYU has won only one match against the Trojans in 27 matches all-time. On Wednesday, BYU will stay in the state and play UC Irvine.
FINAL RESULTS
DOUBLES
No. 1 No. 10 Lozano/Vilms (BYU) def. Almada/Shearer 8-4
No. 2 Fistar/Ilic (FSU) def. Harbach/Olsen 9-7
No. 3 Losee/Nyman (BYU) def. Krohn/Suta (FSU) 9-8
SINGLES
No. 1 Nick Fustar (FSU) def. Gert Vilms (BYU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Stefan Suta (FSU) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
No. 3 Hector Almada (FSU) def. Erik Nyman (BYU) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Alex Krohn (FSU) def. Nic Losee (BYU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
No. 5 Anton rudjuk (BYU) def. Dustin Ilic (FSU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Greg Shearer (FSU) def. Jeff Harbach (BYU) 6-1, 6-1