BYU Dominates Denver at Home, Keeps Winning Streak Alive

PROVO -- The No. 62 BYU men's tennis team pushed its win streak to four by defeating Denver 6-1 Saturday night. The Cougars (5-5, 0-0) have won all three matches at home so far and have only given up three points at home.

BYU head coach Jim Osborne mixed up the lineups in both singles and doubles because of injuries, but it didn't matter as BYU took the doubles point and never looked back.

"It was a good team effort again," Osborne said. "We're on track and we're taking care of business."

In doubles, Jeff Harbach and Jeff Olsen moved up to the No. 1 spot and won their match 8-6. The match see-sawed back and forth with each team holding serve, but Harbach/Olsen came up with a huge break in the next to last game. Olsen then served the final game to seal the match.

At No. 2 doubles, Nic Losee and Erik Nyman teamed up to overpower Jay Patel and Trevor Young of Denver, winning the match 8-4. Jose Luis Lechuga and Carlos Lozano played at No. 3 and won a close match, 9-7. Lozano's usual doubles partner, Gert Vilms, sat out with an injured hamstring he suffered last week. Lozano and Vilms are currently the sixth-ranked doubles team in the nation.

In singles play, Denver picked up its lone point at the No. 1 position. Lozano and Magnus Ramfelt played a hard-fought match, but in the end Ramfelt barely won the match, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. The Cougars handled the Pioneers at every other position though, and took the match 6-1. Nyman, playing at the No. 2 spot in Vilms' absence, kept his own hot streak alive, winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Nyman has now won eight of his last ten matches.

Losee won in straight sets at No. 3, and Harbach and Lechuga each won their matches in straight sets as well. Olsen went a full three sets against Hans Peter Gaber at No. 4, but came out on top, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Junior Anton Rudjuk sat out the match with cracked ribs and will most likely sit for the next couple of weeks.

"We've played 10 matches now and we've got 11 to go," Osborne said. "Our goal is to be playing our best at the end of the season. We've taken care of business at home, now we need to do damage on the road."

BYU's next match will be Saturday against Princeton. The match will be at a neutral court in California. BYU's next home match will be against Boise State on Mar. 30.

FINAL RESULTS

DOUBLES

No. 1 Harbach/Olsen (BYU) def. Ljubic/Ramfelt (UD) 8-6

No. 2 Losee/Nyman (BYU) def. Patel/Young (UD) 8-4

No. 3 Lechuga/Lozano (BYU) def. Gaber/Tan (UD) 9-7

BYU WINS DOUBLES POINT

SINGLES

No. 1 Magnus Ramfelt (UD) def. Carlos Lozano (BYU) 7-5, 6-7, 7-6

No. 2 Erik Nyman (BYU) def. Urban Ljubic (UD) 6-3, 5-7, 6-2

No. 3 Nic Losee (BYU) def. Jay Patel (UD) 7-6, 6-2

No. 4 Jeff Olsen (BYU) def. Hans Peter Gaber (UD) 6-4, 4-6, 6-2

No. 5 Jeff Harbach (BYU) def. Jason Tan (UD) 6-1, 6-2

No. 6 Jose Luis Lechuga (BYU) def. Trevor Young (UD) 7-6, 6-3

BYU WINS MATCH 6-1