TUCSON -- Following the first loss of the season Friday against No. 24 Arizona, the No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team rebounded with a 5-2 win over South Alabama Saturday. The Cougars improve to 9-1 on the year with the win.
“I’m proud of the way the guys bounced back after a tough, physical loss,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “The players were tired emotionally and physically after back-to-back road trips.”
Wins by Georgy Batrakov and Daniel Hwang on court three and Evan Urbina and Spencer Smith on court two gave BYU the doubles point. Cassidy Mears and Thomas Shubert dropped an 8-6 decision at the No. 1 position to give the Jaguars their only doubles win of the contest.
In singles, No. 98 Shubert and Smith handily defeated their respective opponents in straight sets. Batrakov and Mears also recorded wins to seal the victory for the Cougars. South Alabama notched its two points with wins at the Nos. 2 and 6 positions.
“Alabama is a dangerous team,” Pearce said. “Our guys really had to dig deep to win on each court.”
The Cougars will be back in action at home next week when they host the University of San Francisco and No. 29 Boise State.
Results
No. 49 BYU-5
South Alabama-2
Doubles
1. Viel/Bartsch (USA) def. Mears/ Shubert (BYU) 8-6
2. Smith/Urbina (BYU) def. Kuehne/Bocaert (USA) 8-6
3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. Bernard/Kruger (USA) 8-2
Singles
1. No. 98 T. Shubert (BYU) def. L. Viel (USA) 6-3, 6-2
2. R. Bocaert (USA) def. E. Urbina (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
3. C. Mears (BYU) def. H. Bartsch (USA) 6-0, 7-6
4. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. A. Bernard (USA) 7-6, 6-1
5. S. Smith (BYU) def. C. Kuehne (USA) 6-2, 6-4
6. D. Kruger (USA) def. R. Warias (BYU) 6-2, 7-5