Cougars Knock Off No. 48 Arizona
TUCSON -- BYU men's tennis team was able to defeat the No. 48 ranked Arizona Wildcats 4-3 on Saturday, despite losing the doubles point.
"This was a big win for us today," said BYU head coach Jim Osborne. "Arizona has been playing really tough lately. They were 3-0 coming into this match with some big wins over No. 30 San Diego St. and No. 53 San Diego last weekend. This win will definitely give us a lot of confidence."
In doubles action, Alonso Medina and Jeff Olsen lost to Colin O'Grady and Roger Matolonga 8-5 at the No. 3 spot, despite the fact they were up 4-1. At the No. 2 position, Anton Rudjuk and Jose Lechuga lost to Whi Kim and Daniel Andrus 8-5. The lone victory for the Cougars came at No. 1 when Carlos Lozano and Erik Nyman beat Carl Hagman and Paul Warkentin 9-7 in a tough match.
Although BYU lost the doubles point, they came back strong in singles and won four of the six matches to steal the win from the Wildcats. Nyman, Lechuga and Olsen all came away with wins in singles, but the match came down to No. 2 singles to decide which team would walk away with the victory. Lozano was able to clinch the match by defeating Hagman, 6-4, 2-6, 7-5, in a hard-fought match at the No. 2 slot.
"I thought we really played well today," Osborne said. "We executed like we wanted to and played to win. I thought the top of our singles lineup played really well and that is what pushed us up over the top."
The Cougars will have the next week off before they resume play on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5 p.m. against Utah State in Provo.
Doubles:1. Lozano/Nyman (BYU) def Hagman/Warkentin (UA) 9-7
2. Kim/Andrus (UA) def. Lechuga/Rudjuk (BYU) 8-5
3. O'Grady/Matalonga (UA) def. Medina/Olsen (BYU) 8-5
Singles
1. Nyman (BYU) def. Kim (UA) 6-3, 6-2
2. Lozano (BYU) def. Hagman (UA) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
3. Lechuga (BYU) def. Warkentin (UA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
4. O'Grady (UA) def. Medina (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Olsen (BYU) def. Andrus (UA) 7-6 (9), 6-1
6. Matalonga (UA) def. Rudjuk (BYU) 6-4, 6
