Men's Tennis Team Hosts BYU Invitational

The BYU men's tennis team will officially begin its fall season by hosting the BYU Invitational Wednesday through Friday. Five teams, including BYU, will compete at the outdoor tennis courts for the singles and doubles titles.

"It's the first tournament of the fall, so we'll see what happens," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "It's a good test to see how the in-state schools are stacking up."

Utah, Utah State, Weber State and Boise State are the other four schools participating in the tournament.

Gert Vilms will try and defend his singles title from a year ago. Vilms also teamed up with Carlos Lozano to take the 2000 doubles title. Vilms and Lozano are the No. 4 ranked doubles team in the preseason poll.

"Of course we'd like to defend our titles and use the home court to our advantage," Osborne said.

Vilms and Lozano competed with three BYU women, Brooke Beverly, Lu Oswald and Lindsay Ferrell, at the World Team Tennis Tournament a week ago in San Diego. The team tied for third after losing in the semifinals to South Alabama.

Singles matches will be played each day from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The doubles matches will be played following the conclusion of the singles matches. Those interested can watch the matches free of charge.