PROVO, Utah – The winning streak ended for BYU men’s tennis after falling to Utah State 4-1 Friday night at the Indoor Tennis Courts.
“Congratulations to Utah State—they did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunities they had,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that. We had multiple opportunities to secure matches. What it comes down to is that they did a better job of that than us tonight. It also hurt that Sean, who has been contributing to doubles and singles throughout the season, wasn't 100 percent or at his best going into the match. We need to regroup and come back ready tomorrow. We are going to focus on securing the win when it's there for us despite the adversity."
Utah State (5-3, 1-0 MWC) brought momentum right from the start in doubles. BYU (7-1, 0-0 WCC) won the first doubles match with John Pearce and Ben Gajardo defeating Samuel Serrano and Valdemar Holm 6-1 in the No. 2 slot. The Aggies came back to secure the doubles point with victories in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Matthew Pearce and David Ball lost in a close 7-5 match against Andrew Nakajima and Bucur Sergiu.
Continuing the momentum, Utah State jumped ahead 3-1. Sean Hill fell to Jaime Barajas 6-1, 6-3 and Jeffrey Hsu lost to Bucur Sergiu 6-2, 6-2. J. Pearce won BYU its only point of the night with a victory in No. 3 singles over Samuel Serrano 6-4, 6-2. Sam Tullis battled in his match to keep the Cougars in it. He ultimately fell in a heartbreaking loss to Valdemar Holm 1-6, 7-6, 6-4. Gajardo and M. Pearce did not finish their matches after Utah State secured a 4-1 win over BYU.
The Cougars bounce back and open West Coast Conference play tomorrow night as they host Portland at 5:30 p.m. MST. The match will be played at the Indoor Tennis Courts, and links to live stats and video streaming are available on the men’s schedule page.
Match Results
BYU 1, USU 4
Doubles Results
- BARAJAS, Jaime/CARVAJAL, Jose (USU) def. HSU, Jeffrey/TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 6-3
- PEARCE, John/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. SERRANO, Samuel/HOLM, Valdemar (USU) 6-1
- NAKAJIMA, Andrew/SERGIU, Bucur (USU) def. PEARCE, Matthew/BALL, David (BYU) 7-5
Order of finish: (2, 1, 3)
Singles Results
- BARAJAS, Jaime (USU) def. HILL, Sean (BYU) 6-1, 6-3
- SERGIU, Bucur (USU) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
- PEARCE, John (BYU) def. SERRANO, Samuel (USU) 6-4, 6-2
- HOLM, Valdemar (USU) def. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 1-6, 7-6, 6-4
- GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) vs. CARVAJAL, Jose (USU) 6-2, 2-3 (DNF)
- PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) vs. ACOSTA, Felipe (USU) 5-5 (DNF)
Order of finish: (1, 3, 2, 4)
Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media
Fans can keep up with the latest on Cougar tennis by following us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/byumenstennis), Twitter (@BYU_Mens_Tennis) and Instagram (@byumtennis).