LOS ANGELES -- The No. 63 BYU men's tennis team couldn't keep up with defending National Champion and No. 5 ranked UCLA Wednesday, losing 6-1 and falling to 2-2 on the season. The win moves UCLA to 2-0.
Senior Jose Lechuga provided the bright spot of the day for BYU by scoring the lone Cougar point in the match. Facing Aaron Yovan, Lechuga got off to a great start in the first set and was able to hold off his opponent for the win, 7-5. Yovan came back strong in the second set and did the same to Lechuga, taking the set 7-5 and forcing the match into a tiebreaker. The two went at each other with every serve, and finally Lechuga was able to pull out the tough 12-10 tie-breaking win.
Going into the match, the Cougars were perfect in the doubles ranks, having won all nine doubles matches against their previous three opponents. However, the Bruins put an end to BYU's streak, stealing the almost automatic doubles point from the Cougars by sweeping with scores of 8-2, 8-5, and 8-3.
The Cougar squad kept fighting, but was never able to fully recover, losing on courts No.'s 5 and 2 in straight sets and allowing the Bruins to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. UCLA wound up winning on five of the six singles courts in straight sets. Michael Look sealed the match for UCLA by beating Ivan Kokurin 6-2, 6-2.
BYU stays in California for the final match of its west-coast swing, playing at No. 9 Pepperdine on Jan. 27 at 1:30 p.m. PST.
No. 63 BYU v.s. No. 5 UCLA
Jan. 25, 2006
Los Angeles California
UCLA 6 BYU 1
Doubles
1. Gruendler/Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. Lechuga/Ludlow (BYU) 8-2
2. Abid/Chris Surapol (UCLA) def. Hand/Sanchez (BYU) 8-5
3. Dehaine/Yovan (UCLA) def. Kaufhold/Kokurin (BYU) 8-3
Singles
1. No. 3 Benjamin Kohlloeffel (UCLA) def. James Ludlow (BYU) 6-2, 6-3
2. Haythem Abid (UCLA) def. Christian Hand (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
3. No. 75 Mathieu Dehaine (UCLA) def Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Jose Lechuga (BYU) def. Aaron Yovan (UCLA) 7-5, 5-7, (12-10)
5. Jeremy Drean (UCLA) def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) 6-0, 6-2
6. Michael Look (UCLA) def. Ivan Kokurin (BYU) 6-2, 6-2*
*Clinching Match
Oreder of Finish- 5,2,6,1,3,4