April 29, 2011

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -

• 2011 Mountain West Tennis Championships Central
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The top-seeded and 36th-ranked BYU men's tennis team defeated fifth-seeded San Diego State, 4-1, on Friday evening to advance to the Mountain West Men's Tournament championship match.

The Cougars earned the doubles point with a narrow win at the top of the lineup. The Aztec tandem of Giovanni Vaglietti and Jose Sierra Short defeated Spencer Smith and Roman Waria (8-3) at No. 3, but BYU answered back with a victory by Evan Urbina and Patrick Kawka (8-5) at the No. 2 spot. In the deciding doubles match, Tim Schulz van Endert and Javier Pulgar netter a tiebreaker victory over Thomas Shubert and Georgy Batrakov 9-8 (6) to secure the first point of the dual for the Cougars.

Batrakov notched a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Pulgar at the No. 2 position to give BYU a 2-0 advantage. Moments later, Kawka, the MW Freshman of the Year award recipient, put the Cougars ahead 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles, but Vaglietti responded by downing Urbina at the No. 1 position, 6-2, 7-6 (4), to give the Aztecs their first point of the match.

BYU's Spencer Smith notched a come-from-behind win over Andre Feliz (2-6, 6-1, 6-2) at the third singles position to secure the match in the Cougars' favor.

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#5 San Diego State Aztecs vs #1 BYU Cougars
Apr 29, 2011 at Fort Collins, Colo.
(University Tennis Complex/Miramont Lifestyle Fitness)
#1 BYU Cougars 4, #5 San Diego State Aztecs 1

Singles competition
1. Giovanni Vaglietti (SDSU) def. Evan Urbina (BYU) 6-2, 7-6 (4)
2. Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Javier Pulgar (SDSU) 6-2, 6-0
3. Spencer Smith (BYU) def. Andre Feliz (SDSU) 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
4. Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Tim Schulz V Endert (SDSU) 6-3, 6-2
5. Thomas Shubert (BYU) def. Juan Florez (SDSU) 3-2
6. Jose Sierra Short (SDSU) vs. Roman Waria (BYU) no result

Doubles competition
1. Thomas Shubert/Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Tim Schulz V Endert/Javier Pulgar (SDSU) 9-8 (6)
2. Evan Urbina/Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Andre Feliz/Shiva Sangwan (SDSU) 8-5

3. Giovanni Vaglietti/Jose Sierra Short (SDSU) def. Spencer Smith/Roman Waria (BYU) 8-3

Match Notes:
#5 San Diego State Aztecs 5-16, 2-4 MW
#1 BYU Cougars 20-5, 6-0 MW
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,4,1,3)