HONOLULU- (April 1, 2006) -- The BYU men's tennis team (7-13) finally got to play No. 64 Hawaii (9-4) Saturday but couldn't come away with a victory, losing 4-3 in a contest that came down to the final match. The match was originally scheduled for Thursday, but was postponed for two days because of heavy rain and flooding in the Hawaiian Islands.
The Warriors protected their home court early, winning two out of three doubles matches. The lone doubles victory for BYU came on No. 1 where James Ludlow and Jose Lechuga played their way to an 8-6 victory.
The Cougars didn't let the early deficit affect them, and they came charging back in the singles matches. Wins by Dominik Kaufhold (6-4, 6-1) and Jose Lechuga (6-0, 6-1) allowed BYU to keep the match close. The Cougars were eventually able to pull even at 3-3 when Chip Hand gutted out a long two set victory over Jarrod Diepraam 7-6 (3), 7-5. The win set up a match-deciding battle on No. 3 between Ivan Kokurin and Hawai`i's Ryan Sceats. Sceats took the first set 6-3 and looked to have things wrapped up, serving with a 5-4 lead in the second. But Kokurin fought back from being down triple match point to break serve and keep the match alive. Sceats was too tough in the next set, breaking Kokurin to give the Warriors the match.
BYU will begin conference play on April 6 against New Mexico. They will also play Air Force and TCU in New Mexico.
Match Results
Hawai`i 4 Brigham Young 3
Singles
1. Sascha Heinemann def. James Ludlow (BYU), 6-3, 6-4
2. Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Bryon Weinberg, 6-4, 6-1
3. Ryan Sceats def. Ivan Kokurin (BYU), 6-3, 7-5
4. Jose Luis Lechuga (BYU) def. Chad Faulk, 6-0, 6-1
5. Christian Hand (BYU) def. Jarrod Diepraam, 7-6 (3), 7-5
6. Jeff Fitch def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU), 6-4, 6-1
Doubles 1. Lechuga/Ludlow (BYU) def. Diepraam/Sceats, 8-6
2. Fitch/Weinberg def. Kaufhold/Kokurin (BYU), 8-6
3. Faulk/Heinemann def. Hand/Sanchez (BYU), 8-4