Utes Earn Share of MWC Title After Win Over BYU

Saturday, April 12

Provo, Utah

1:30 PM

University of Utah

BYU

Utes Earn Share of MWC Title After Win Over BYU

4/12/2008 12:00 AM | Men's Tennis

April 12, 2008

PROVO, UTAH - The University of Utah men's tennis team clinched a share of the Mountain West Conference regular season title on Saturday after posting a 4-3 win over in-state rivals BYU. This is the first time since 1990 that the Utes were able to clinch the MWC title and the first time in four years that Utah has defeated BYU. Utah improved to a 13-9 overall record and finished conference play with a 5-1 record.

"I'm extremely proud of the job the guys did today," said head coach F.D. Robbins. "Winning the Mountain West Conference title at and against BYU by having our fifth year senior clinch the match at 3-3 was great for us. We were down after losing the doubles point, but we fought hard and earned the title."

In doubles play, Zach Ganger and Miron Mann pulled out a win at the top spot over Jonathan Sanchez and AJ Young from BYU. The Ute duo played a high level match to earn a strong 8-4 win over the Cougars.

At the No. 2 spot, Cougar duo Daniel Hwang and Thomas Shubert took on Othman Zerouali-Ouariti and John Taylor. The Utes put up a good fight, but were unable to pull out the win. Hwang and Shubert took the match 8-6 to tie up doubles play.

The doubles point was decided at the No. 3 spot. Wes Hancock and Timmy Allin took on Cassidy Mears and Evan Urbina for a hard fought battle in an attempt to clinch the doubles point. Although both teams played hard, it was the Cougar duo that had the final say. Mears and Urbina took the win 8-6 to secure the doubles point for BYU.

In singles play, Ganger got the team going with a 6-4, 6-0 domination over BYU's Sanchez at the top spot to tie up the match 1-1. Ganger has gone undefeated in conference play in both singles and doubles play.

At the No. 4 spot, Hancock continued the momentum to outplay Urbina from the Cougars' squad. BYU had gathered a large crowd, but the Ute didn't crack under the pressure. Hancock only allowed Urbina two games before going in for the win 6-2, 6-0 to give Utah the lead.

At the No. 5 spot, Utah's true freshman experienced his first taste of the Utah vs. BYU rivalry while playing against Hwang. Although the Ute had a good day on Friday against UNLV's Bryan Miller, he just couldn't find the same rhythm against Hwang. The Cougar slammed a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Ute to tie things back up 2-2.

On court six, Allin was pushing himself and challenging his opponent AJ Young from BYU. During Saturday's contest, the Cougar took the first set 6-3, but Allin wasn't going down without a fight. Allin battled back for a 6-4 win in the second set, and was unstoppable in the third. The Ute dominated the court to take the win 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. The last time these two player met, Young took the win 6-4, 6-2.

With the Utes leading 3-2, Zerouali-Ouariti and BYU's Mears battled hard at the No. 3 spot. The Ute played well, but came up short against Mears. Although the score doesn't reflect his efforts, it was one of the Ute's strongest matches in conference play. Mears took the win 7-6, 6-3 to give the overall match an intense 3-3 tie.

The crowd and teams gathered around center court as Mann and Shubert battled it out at the No. 2 spot with the match on their backs. Utah's fifth-year senior came through for the Utes after struggling to find his bearings in the beginning. Shubert played a high level match, but couldn't overpower Mann even with the crowd behind him. Mann slammed a 7-5, 6-4 win to clinch the victory over BYU. The Utes haven't earned a victory over BYU since 2004 when they won 4-3.

The Utes will play their last regular season match on Friday, April 18 against UC Santa Barbara.

Utah 4, BYU 3Singles:1. Zach Ganger (Utah) def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU); 6-4, 6-02. Miron Mann (Utah) def. Thomas Shubert (BYU); 7-5, 6-43. Cassidy Mears (BYU) def. Othman Zerouali-Ouariti (Utah); 7-6(5), 6-34. Wes Hancock (Utah) def. Evan Urbina (BYU); 6-2, 6-05. Daniel Hwang (BYU) def. John Taylor (Utah); 6-2, 6-16. Timmy Allin (Utah) def. AJ Young (BYU); 3-6, 6-4, 6-1Order of finish: 1, 4, 5, 6, 3, 2*
Doubles:1. Ganger/Mann (Utah) def. Sanchez/AJ Young (BYU); 8-42. Hwang/Shubert (BYU) def. Zerouali-Ouariti/Taylor (Utah); 8-63. Mears/Urbina (BYU) def. Hancock/Allin (Utah); 8-6Order of finish: 1, 2, 3**clinching point