LAS -- After impressive wins throughout the ITA Mountain Region Championship, Georgy Batrakov’s run in the tournament ended in the semifinals Saturday.

“George showed courage and determination,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “He showed how far he’s come in battling through tough matches.”

The BYU sophomore, who was the only BYU men’s tennis player remaining in the competition, fell to Boise State’s Vicente Joli in two sets. Batrakov was the third consecutive Cougar Joli knocked out of the tournament.

While Pearce was pleased with Batrakov’s performance, he was also happy with the way the team competed as a whole. In consolation play, neither singles nor doubles were finished. However, the Cougars did have several players advancing in both draws.

“It’s gratifying to see the hard work the players have put in paying off in such visible ways,” Pearce said. “We had great overall play from every person on the roster.”

BYU will continue the season Nov. 9 at the Hawaii Hidden Duels. For complete draws and results from the regional tournament, click here.

PROVO -- As the fall tournament season continues, the BYU men’s tennis team will travel to Las Vegas for the ITA Mountain Region Championships this week. The tournament, which will run from Wednesday to Sunday, will include 12 teams the Cougars will face in the spring.

While the ITA announced the realignment of its 12 regions, the Mountain region has remained largely unchanged. At the end of last season, BYU had four players in the singles top 30 and one pair in the doubles top 15 in the regional rankings.

The Cougars have looked strong in the past couple of weeks, making it clear at both the Boise State Fall Classic and Utah Invitational that they are regional contenders. Junior Thomas Shubert captured the singles title at both tournaments while BYU players have taken three of the final four spots in each competition.

Freshman Spencer Smtih has proven that he has what it takes to compete at the collegiate level with a close loss to Shubert in the finals of the Utah Invitational last week. Junior Evan Urbina has also looked dangerous thus far with two semifinal appearances, falling each time to teammate Shubert.

Smith and Urbina also combined to win the doubles title at the Boise State Fall Classic and advanced to the semifinal of the Utah Invitational.

The region championships begin Wednesday at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas. For draws and results, click here.