BYUH tennis men beat HPU

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

After losing two key players from last season, Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's tennis coach David Porter wondered how his defending national championship team would fare against nationally ranked Hawai'i Pacific yesterday.

In the first meeting between the two top teams in the Pacific West Conference, third-ranked BYUH upset second-ranked HPU, 6-3, yesterday at the Kailua Racquet Club.

"I had some concerns how we were going to measure up against teams like Hawai'i Pacific who had all of its top five players back and got some additional players," Porter said. "On paper, they're obviously a much stronger team from what they had last year."

Last season, BYUH eliminated HPU in the quarterfinal match of the NCAA tournament, 5-4. The Seasiders went on to win both the men's and women's titles, a feat never before accomplished by a Division II team in the same season.

This season, BYUH lost the middle of its lineup after No. 3 Hung Soon Park transferred and No. 4 Andrew Makarevich completed his eligibility. Those key losses coupled with HPU's returning players likely factored into BYUH's third-place ranking in a preseason poll behind national-runner up Drury (Mo.) and Hawai'i Pacific, according to Porter.

"You don't rank this year on last year," said Porter, who has the nation's top-ranked player in sophomore Jan Krejci and 11th-ranked player in junior Peter Madarassy. Krejci is 31-3 in his career. One loss came in the Omni Hotels "Super Bowl" of Small College Tennis last year when BYUH chose to withdraw during the semifinals because school policy doesn't allow players to compete on Sundays. BYUH is administered by the Mormon church.

Both Krejci and Madarassy won their singles matches yesterday and have helped the men's team earn some national recognition that had previously been reserved for the women's team. The Lady Seasiders won national championships in five of the last six seasons. On Tuesday, the top-ranked BYUH women's team beat HPU, 8-1.

"People expect the men's team to do the same as the women," Krejci said. "We did it and now we're trying to keep it up and defend the national championship."

As for HPU, coach Henry Somerville has four players ranked in the top 35 in No. 4 junior Mikael Maatta, No. 22 senior Blaz Jurjec, No. 33 junior Matey Pampulov and No. 35 senior Jan Tribler. Freshmen Milos Koprivica and Gabor Jaross, and sophomore Sasa Pirc will also contribute.

"We have a good mix of veterans and rookies," said Somerville, who has two runner-up national finishes in 2000 and 2001. "I think with what I've seen so far, we'll be building and it will be a very strong team and a contender for the national title again this year."

Added Maatta: "I think (HPU and BYUH) are both strong. Today we fell short. But it's going to be tight matches. This year, we're still hoping to grasp the (championship) ring."

Yesterday's results

At Kailua Racquet Club

College Men

• Brigham Young-Hawai'i (3-0) 6, Hawai'i Pacific (2-1) 3

Men's Singles

• (1) Jan Krejci (BYUH) def. (4) Mikael Maatta (HPU) 7-5, 6-3.
• (11) Peter Madarassy (BYUH) def. Gabor Jaross (HPU) 6-3, 6-4.
• Jong Woong Yoon (BYUH) def. (22) Blaz Jurjec (HPU) 6-1, 6-1.
• (33) Matey Pampulov (HPU) def. Hong-Tae Kim (BYUH) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-6)
• (35) Jan Tribler (HPU) def. Daouda Ndiaye (BYUH) 6-1, 6-2.
• Wen-Lung Cheng (BYUH) def. Stefan Pampulov (HPU) 6-2, 6-3.

Men's Doubles

• Maatta/Tribler (HPU) def. Krejci/Madarassy (BYUH) 8-6.
• Ndiaye/Cheng (BYUH) def. Jurjec/Jaross (HPU) 8-3.
• Kim/Yoon (BYUH) def. M. Pampulov/Sasa Pirc (HPU) 8-4.

BYUH basketball rankings: The Brigham Young-Hawai'i men's basketball team jumped six spots to 13th in the Division II National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 released this week.

The Seasiders (13-2 overall, 7-1 PacWest) lead the six-team conference with seven games left in the season. The winner of the conference earns a berth to the NCAA II Regional Tournament in March.

This week's basketball schedule

Today's games

• Hawai'i Pacific at Chaminade*, 7:30 p.m. at McCabe Gym
• Montana State-Billings at Western New Mexico*

Tomorrow's game

• Brigham Young-Hawai'i at Hawai'i-Hilo*, 8 p.m. at Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium

Saturday's game

• Hawai'i Pacific at Chaminade*, 7:30 p.m. at McCabe Gym
• Montana State-Billings at Western New Mexico
• Brigham Young-Hawai'i at Hawai'i-Hilo*, 8 p.m. Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium

This week's softball schedule

Tomorrow's games

• Montana State-Billings at Hawai'i Pacific*, 2 p.m. HPU Windward Field
• Western New Mexico vs. Sul Ross

Saturday's games

• Simon Fraser at Brigham Young-Hawai'i, noon at BYUH Field
• Chaminade at Hawai'i-Hilo*, noon at UHH Softball Field
• Montana State-Billings at Hawai'i Pacific*, noon at HPU Windward Field
• Western New Mexico vs. Sul Ross

*—Pacific West Conference game