BOULDER -- It was two-for-one for BYU on Saturday as the Cougars played both Colorado and Denver in a double-header marathon. In the first match, the Cougars (5-13) jumped out to a quick lead but couldn't quite hold on against No. 40 Colorado (8-3), losing a tightly contested battle 5-2 to the Buffaloes at the Millennium Hotel Harvest House. The back end of the double-header was even closer, but me BYU with the same results as they lost to the 8-4 Denver Pioneers 4-3.
In the first matc of the day, the BYU men's tennis team (5-12) jumped out to a quick lead but couldn't quite hold on against No. 40 Colorado (8-3), losing a tightly contested battle 5-2 to the Buffaloes at the Millennium Hotel Harvest House.
The Cougars started the first match strong, jumping out to a quick 1-0 advantage by capturing the doubles point. James Ludlow and Jose Lechuga pulled off a thrilling 9-8 defeated over Mark Bundalo and Eric Molnar on court one, and Dominik Kaufhold and Ivan Kokurin complemented the win with one of their own, playing to an 8-4 victory on court two.
The path was difficult from that point on for the Cougars, and Colorado inched its way back into the match point by point. Although the Buffaloes took five of the six singles matches, each match proved to be a battle that could have gone the other way. BYU's Dominik Kaufhold, Ivan Kokurin and Jonathan Sanchez took their matches three sets, but in the end couldn't hold off the Buffalo comeback. The Cougars were able to score a point on the singles side, with Jose Lechuga earning his tenth victory of the season by beating Chad Tsuda in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1.
This is the second time this season the two teams have met. Colorado won the first contest 4-0 at the Regional Playoffs in January.
DENVER -- The two teams mixed things up and began the match with singles play, which made for some very exciting tennis. The two squads exchanged blows for all six matches, resulting in three ties and three lead changes during singles play. Denver jumped on top first when Steve Flaks defeated Chip Hand in straight sets. BYU's Jose Lechuga then tied the score at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Viktor Zetterholm. The back-and-forth pace had been set and was followed the entire match. Denver won on court three, but BYU came back to win on courts two and one to take a 3-2 lead. Playing against elimination, Denver's Alijosa Nipic used all three sets to keep the Pioneers alive and squeaked by BYU's Zack Warren 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.
The unusual format and tied score set doubles matches that would decide the winner. The intensity from singles carried into doubles, as both teams faced a sudden-death situation. Denver struck quickly, first getting the 8-3 win on court one, then grinding it out on court three where Zetterholm and NIpic beat Christian Hand and Andrew Marsh 8-5 to seal the match or Denver.
The Cougars will host a double-header for their next two matches, with Montana State and Idaho State visiting Provo on March 25.
No. 40 Colorado v.s. BYU
Colorado 5 BYU 2
Singles
1d) Lechuga/Ludlow (BYU) def. Bundalo/Molnar 9-8 (7)
2d) Kaufhold/Kokurin (BYU) def. Bjork/Tsuda 8-4
3d) Dvorak/Zelezny (CU) def. Hand/Sanchez 8-1
Doubles
1s) Eric Molnar (CU) def. James Ludlow 6-3, 6-4
2s) Marko Bundalo (CU) def. Dominik Kaufhold 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3s) (96) Peter Bjork (CU) def. Christian Hand 6-3, 6-2
*4s) (111) Jan Zelezny (CU) def. Ivan Kokurin 5-7, 6-3, 6-0
5s) Jose Luis Lechuga (BYU) def. Chad Tsuda 6-4, 6-1
6s) Marek Dvorak (CU) def. Jonathan Sanchez 1-6, 7-6(4), 1-0 (6)
*clinched match
Denver 4, BYU 3
Singles
James Ludlow (BYU) def. Adam Holmstrom (DU) 7-6(7-3), 6-1
Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Niklas Persson (DU) 6-4, 7-6(7-4)
Nejc Smole (DU) def. Ivan Kokurin (BYU) 7-6(9-7), 6-2
Steve Flaks (DU) def. Chip Hand (BYU) 7-6(7-3), 6-1
Jose Luis Lechuga (BYU) def. Viktor Zetterholm (DU) 6-4, 6-2
Aljosa Nipic (DU) def. Zack Warren (BYU) 6-1, 5-7, 6-3
Order of finish: 4, 5, 3, 2, 1, 6
Doubles
Holmstrom/Persson (DU) def. Lechuga/Ludlow (BYU) 8-3
Kaufhold/Kourkin (BYU) def. Smole/Flaks (DU) 8-6
Zetterholm/Nipic (DU) def. Hand/Marsh (BYU) 8-5
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2
*Singles was played first