PROVO -- The No. 45 BYU men’s tennis team earned its 10th win of the season Friday against the University of San Francisco. The Cougars defeated the Dons 6-1 to improve their record to 10-1.
“Having 10 wins this early in the season is a great tribute to the guys,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “Their hard work and effort started in the fall.”
In pairs play, a similar story unfolded on all three courts. As the Cougars settled in, they got ahead in each of the matches, but the Dons would not back down. Cassidy Mears and Thomas Shubert were the first doubles team to record a win. On the remaining courts, BYU led 7-5. At both the Nos. 2 and 3 positions, USF was allowed one more game before being defeated 8-6 and the Cougars went into the break up by one.
“We’ve been fortunate to get some close wins early in the season and our confidence is growing,” Pearce said. “The guys expect to win and that’s a good thing.”
BYU’s momentum continued in singles play with the Cougars easily winning three matches to earn their 10th win of the season. Evan Urbina, Georgy Batrakov and Mears each handily defeated their respective opponents in straight sets to secure the four points necessary for the victory.
San Francisco’s only win of the match came at the No. 1 position where Thai Tu defeated Shubert 7-5, 6-3. Smith and Hwang closed out the contest, notching two more singles wins for the Cougars to secure the 6-1 decision.
“It was good to get a match under our belts in preparation for a good Boise State team,” Pearce said.
Saturday BYU will challenge No. 29 Boise State at 5: 30 p.m. The match will be at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts located south of the Smith Fieldhouse. Admission is free and the team will provide pizza and prizes for fans. All BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public all day Saturday.
No. 45 BYU-6
San Francisco-1
Doubles
1. Mears/Shubert (BYU) def. Cohen/Tu (USF) 8-4
2. Smith/Urbina (BYU) def. Nachbauer/Schumacher (USF) 8-6
3. Batrakov/Hwang (BYU) def. DeCastro/Hart (USF) 8-6
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
Singles
1. T. Tu (USF) def. No. 98 T. Shubert (BYU) 7-5, 6-3
2. E. Urbina (BYU) def. R. Nachbauer (USF) 6-3, 6-2
3. C. Mears (BYU) def. A. Cohen (USF) 6-4, 6-2
4. G. Batrakov (BYU) def. O. Bakke (USF) 6-3, 6-2
5. S. Smith (BYU) def. M. DeCastro (USF) 6-2, 6-2
6. D. Hwang (BYU) def. J. Hartwig (USF) 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: 2, 4, 3, 1, 5, 6