PROVO -- As the BYU men's tennis team continues its six-tournament road trip, it will face some of its toughest competition of the season in the ITA All American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Head Coach Brad Pearce is optimistic about this week's tournament even though it adds to the amount of play away from home the Cougars will see this season.
"It will be a long tournament," Pearce said. "As I've reminisced over the last four years, we've been on the road a lot, but the players seem to be in the competitive spirit early. It should be a great experience."
Coach Pearce hopes to turn some heads in this tournament by playing well. BYU has a school-wide policy that they will not play on Sunday. As this tournament runs through two Sundays, Coach Pearce hopes BYU has enough players go far enough that the officials will adjust the play so the BYU players are able to continue competing on Monday or Tuesday.
"It's an interesting tournament because these results have a huge bearing on the boys' rankings," Pearce said. "And we want them all to do well."
BYU's Erik Nyman has a preseason ranking of 99 in singles play. The ITA All American Championships will give Nyman and other players a chance to boost their rankings.
All eight players on the Cougar team will travel to Tennessee for the tournament. The team will leave Wednesday Oct. 1 and hope to return to Provo on Oct. 12, once the final matches are played.
"This will be a great experience for the team," Pearce said. "Especially the incoming freshmen. It will give them a chance to see how tough college competition really is."