PROVO, Utah – In a regional rival showdown, the BYU men’s tennis team hosts No. 35 Boise State Friday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.
“We have a pretty young team so having them come through with some big wins last weekend gives them a lot of confidence,” BYU assistant coach Zack Warren said. “Boise State always gets our attention. They are a big regional rival and our guys are very excited to play.”
The Cougars (7-5), who are riding a four-match winning streak, are coming off impressive 7-0 wins over Air Force and Denver last weekend.
BYU’s No. 1 singles player, senior Georgy Batrakov, enters the weekend as the 54th-ranked singles player nationally.
Sophomore Patrick Kawka and senior Spencer Smith lead the team in dual singles wins, with records of 9-2 and 9-3, respectively. Kawka has won seven consecutive matches while Smith is 22-5 overall.
Batrakov and Kawka team up at the No. 1 doubles position for the Cougars, where the duo has a 7-4 dual record. Playing at the No. 2 doubles position, Smith and freshman Francis Sargeant are 8-2 this spring.
The Broncos (7-4) have two nationally ranked singles players in No. 59 Damian Hume and No. 60 James Meredith.
Boise State is coming off the Blue-Gray Tennis Classic, where the team went 0-3 against three SEC teams who are currently ranked in the top 20. The Broncos fell 4-1 to No. 12 Auburn, 4-0 to No. 14 Mississippi State and 4-1 to No. 19 Tennessee.
The match kicks off at 5:30 p.m. As always at home matches, pizza and prizes will be provided. Spectators may park in the “Y Lot” parking lots to the northwest and southwest of the courts. Admission is free.