BYU Captures MWC Men's Tennis Championship

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The top-seeded and 36th-ranked BYU men's tennis team defeated second-seeded and 57th-ranked TCU by a score of 4-2 on Saturday to capture the 2011 Mountain West Men's Tennis Championship at the Air Force Academy Indoor Tennis Complex. The Cougars improved to 21-5 overall, while the Horned Frogs slipped to 13-13.

TCU won the deciding match in doubles play to take a 1-0 lead. The 48th-ranked Frog duo of Emanuel Brighiu and Christopher Price led off with an 8-6 win over BYU's Thomas Shubert and Georgy Batrakov at the No. 1 position. The Cougars pulled even when Spencer Smith and Roman Warias defeated TCU's Zachary Nichols and Daniel Sanchez, 8-6, at the No. 3 slot. TCU claimed the doubles point at the No. 2 position with Paul Chappell and Cameron Nash edging BYU's Evan Urbina and Patrick Kawka, 9-8, on a 9-7 tiebreaker.

BYU jumped out to a strong start in singles, winning consecutive matches at the No. 4, 2 and 3 positions to take a 3-1 lead.

Kawka, ranked 109th nationally, put the Cougars on the board with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Slah M'Barek at No. 4, while Batrakov followed with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Nichols at the No. 2 position. Smith put BYU up 3-1 over the Frogs after defeating Price by a score of 6-3, 7-6(7-3) at the No. 3 slot.

Brighiu, ranked 72nd nationally in singles, brought TCU within one at 3-2, defeating Urbina at the No. 1 position, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Shubert clinched the win for the Cougars at the No. 5 slot with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over TCU's Soren Goritzka.

With the win, the Cougars earned the Mountain West's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Men's Championships, which begin May 13. It was BYU's second Mountain West Tournament championship (2001). The rest of the 64-team field will be announced live on ESPNEWS Tuesday, May 3, between 3-4 p.m. MT.