SAN -- The No. 64 men’s tennis team finished its first day in California with a 5-2 upset victory over No. 38 San Diego State. With the win, the Cougars improve to 2-2 in conference play while the Aztecs drop to 0-1.

“Our guys went out and fought hard start to finish,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “It’s a great breakthrough for us to not only beat a good, solid team but the highest-ranked team in our conference.”

Doubles play once again laid the foundation for BYU. The Aztecs took the first match on court one, but Cassidy Mears and Evan Urbina responded with an 8-4 win on court three to tie things up.

The point came down to Daniel Hwang and Thomas Shubert at the No. 2 position. The sophomores clinched it after edging Tim Schulz van Enders and Andre Felix, 9-7. The Cougars have yet to lose a match after winning the doubles point this season.

“Getting the doubles point was big for us,” Pearce said.

In singles, SDSU evened things out with a win on court one. Victories by Hwang and Urbina put the upset within reach for BYU. The Aztecs answered with Giovanni Vaglietti’s three-set win over Shubert at the No. 3 position.

That would be the last victory of the day for SDSU as Cassidy Mears and Georgy Batrakov pulled out tough wins for the Cougars.

“We’ve wanted to be operating on all cylinders at every position,” Pearce said. “As the end of the season draws near, we’re getting closer to achieving that goal and that’s encouraging.”

The team will face Air Force Friday and No. 42 New Mexico Saturday. Both matches begin at 9 a.m. PT at the Fairbanks Ranch Tennis Club in San Diego.

Match Results
No. 64 Brigham Young- 5 
No. 38 San Diego State- 2
 
Doubles
No. 1 - Achim Ceban/ Juan Gomez (SDSU) def. A.J. Young/ George Batrakov (BYU), 8-1
No. 2 - Thomas Shubert/ Daniel Hwawng (BYU) def. Tim Schulz van Endert/ Andre Felix (SDSU), 9-7
No. 3 - Cassidy Mears/ Evan Urbina (BYU) def. Jordan Colman/Luis Rattenhuber (SDSU), 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
 
Singles
No. 1 – Achim Ceban (SDSU) def. Roman Warias (BYU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 – Evan Urbina (BYU) def. Juan Gomez (SDSU), 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
No. 3 – Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU), 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 – Cassidy Mears (BYU) def. Tim Schulz van Endert (SDSU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 5 – George Batrakov (BYU) def. Andre Felix (SDSU), 7-5, 7-6 (4)
No. 6 – Daniel Hwang (BYU) def. Jordan Colman (SDSU), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 2, 3, 4, 5

PROVO -- Another weekend of tough conference play awaits the No. 64 BYU men’s tennis team as it travels to San Diego. The Cougars will compete against No. 38 San Diego State, Air Force and No. 41 New Mexico in their third consecutive three-match weekend.

“We’ve got to be ready to play and play well at every position, every single match,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said.

The team will begin play Thursday against San Diego State. The Aztecs have yet to play a Mountain West opponent after three of their conference matches were postponed because of weather.

SDSU is currently 12-8 on the season and coming off a 5-2 win over UC Santa Barbara. BYU earned the win in a 4-3 decision when the two teams met last season in Provo.

“San Diego State and New Mexico are both good teams that know how to win,” Pearce said.

BYU will then take on Air Force. The Falcons are 0-2 in conference, having lost to UNLV and New Mexico. AFA’s last result was a 6-1 loss to Montana State.

“You can never take Air Force lightly because they always compete well,” Pearce said.

New Mexico will challenge the Cougars Saturday to wrap up the trip. The Lobos are an impressive 15-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference play. They are coming off of a close 4-3 loss to Boise State. BYU fell 4-0 at home last year against UNM.

“The bottom line on this trip is that we’re capable of winning,” Pearce said. “Our guys are going to have to be more patient, points will be longer and they’ll have to work harder.”

All matches will be played at the Fairbanks Ranch Tennis Club. Thursday's match against SDSU starts at 2 p.m. PT. The other matches begin at 9 a.m. PT.