WILLIAMSBURG -- The No. 63 College of William & Mary proved to be too much for the No. 65 BYU men’s tennis team Friday at the Tribe National Indoor Invitational. The Cougars dropped their first match of the tournament 5-2 and will face Elon in the consolation round Saturday.

"I was proud of the way our guys responded to the challenges they faced today," BYU coach Brad Pearce said.

The Tribe gained the advantage in pairs play after victories on court one and two secured the doubles point. Freshman Georgy Batrakov and sophomore Daniel Hwang picked up the only doubles win for the Cougars with an 8-6 victory at the No. 3 position.

William & Mary earned its second point of the match after Sophomore Thomas Shubert lost on court one. Shubert, who plays at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles, played through a back injury in Friday's matches. Batrakov gave BYU its first point with a straight set win over Richard Wardell. After three hard-fought sets, Cougar freshman Roman Warias fell to his Tribe opponent.

"On the bright side, Georgy Batrakov had a good day," Pearce said. "But I think having a key player like Shubert at half-strength was just too much for us to overcome."

Sophomore Evan Urbina added to BYU’s point total with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 position. That was the last win on the day for the Cougars with William & Mary taking the two remaining matches.

Elon lost to No. 60 Clemson in the first round of the tournament and will play BYU Saturday at 4:30 p.m. Clemson and William & Mary will face off in the championship match at the same time.

Match Results

No. 63 William & Mary-5

No. 65 BYU-2

Doubles

No. 1 - #52 Juneau/Vidal (W&M) def. Shubert/Mears (BYU) - 8-4

No. 2 - Pagon/Orre (W&M) def. Urbina/Young (BYU) - 8-2

No. 3 - Hwang/Batrakov (BYU) def. Ramadan/Wardell (W&M) - 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

Singles

No. 1 - Keziel Juneau (W&M) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU) - 6-3, 6-2

No. 2 - Evan Urbina (BYU) def. Marwan Ramadan (W&M) - 6-2, 6-2

No. 3 - Dominic Pagon (W&M) def. Roman Warias (BYU) - 3-6, 6-1, 6-3

No. 4 - Sebastien Vidal (W&M) def. Cassidy Mears (BYU) - 6-1, 7-5

No. 5 - Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Richard Wardell (W&M) - 6-2, 7-5

No. 6 - Ilja Orre (W&M) def. Daniel Hwang (BYU) - 6-4, 3-6, 10-7

*denotes clinching match--Order of Finish: 1, 5, 3, 2, 4*, 6

PROVO -- The No. 70 BYU men’s tennis team (3-1) will travel to Virginia this weekend to participate in the Tribe National Indoor Invite hosted by the College of William & Mary. The Cougars will face the No. 64 Tribe Friday and play either Elon University or No. 61 Clemson Saturday.

“In a tournament situation, we create our own destiny,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said.

The Tribe has been busy this season, racking up a 7-2 record less than a month into the season. They are coming off back-to-back wins over Richmond and Longwood last week.

Clemson will face Elon University Friday. The Tigers are 1-1 on the season and will attempt to get back on track after a 7-0 loss to No. 3 Georgia. Elon is 0-1 this year after falling to No. 35 Duke last week.

BYU has an 0-1 all-time record against Clemson and has never played William & Mary or Elon.

“This opportunity was appealing to us because these are good, solid schools we haven’t played before,” Pearce said. “We’re expanding our reach.”

Friday’s matches begin at 8:30 a.m. ET and Saturday’s play starts at 4:30 p.m. Pearce said the time change combined with the early match will test the Cougars.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but we’ll meet it head on and be ready,” Pearce said.

Tribe National Indoor Invite

January 30, 2009

McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center

1. No. 64 William & Mary vs. No. 70 BYU

2. No. 61 Clemson vs. Elon

January 31, 2009

McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center

1. Winner of Match 1 vs. Winner of Match 2

2. Loser of Match 1 vs. Loser of Match 2