PROVO, Utah – Senior John Pearce won in No. 5 singles to clinch a 4-1 victory for BYU tennis over No. 50 Loyola Marymount Friday afternoon at the Indoor Tennis Courts.
"The main thing that I was pleased with at the start of the match is that we won the doubles point because of lines two and three, but we had match point in line one," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "It was a great start on every position and set a good tone of being ready to play. They are undefeated in conference play and have only lost three other times. They are well-coached and have lots of talent. We came out ready to go. Our goal is to get first sets in the positions, and we got that in half the matches starting out. I'm excited for our guys today."
BYU (17-6, 6-2 WCC) came out ready to compete and earned the doubles point against Loyola Marymount (15-4, 5-1 WCC). Brother duo John Pearce and Matthew Pearce defeated Diego Nava and Errol Smith 6-2 in the No. 3 slot. Sam Tullis and Ben Gajardo earned a 6-3 victory over Charles Boyce and Lukas Moenter in No. 2 doubles to move the Cougars into singles up 1-0 over the Lions.
Loyola Marymount claimed the first singles point with Moenter defeating Jeffrey Hsu 6-4, 6-2 in the No. 2 slot. BYU continued to be aggressive and earned three-consecutive wins. Tullis earned a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory against Smith in No. 3 singles, and Gajardo defeated Lucas Moreno 6-1, 6-7, 6-4 in the No. 4 slot.
Up 3-1, John Pearce claimed a 7-5, 6-2 win over Boyce to clinch the 4-1 Cougar win over the No. 50 Lions, giving Loyola Marymount its first conference loss.
BYU finishes regular-season play Saturday, April 14, hosting Pepperdine at 12 p.m. MST at the Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting (the temperature must be above 50°F at match time to be played outside). Senior John Pearce will be recognized between doubles and singles. Live stats are available on the men’s schedule page.
Match Results
BYU 4, Loyola Marymount 1
Doubles Results
- HILL, Sean/HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) vs. DIAZ FREIRE, Gabriel/BORCHENKO, Nick (LMU) 5-3 (DNF)
- TULLIS, Sam/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. BOYCE, Charles/MOENTER, Lukas (LMU) 6-3
- PEARCE, John/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. NAVA, Diego/SMITH, Errol (LMU) 6-2
Order of finish: (3, 2)
Singles Results
- HILL, Sean (BYU) vs. DIAZ FREIRE, Gabriel (LMU) 4-6, 6-4, 5-6 (DNF)
- MOENTER, Lukas (LMU) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 6-4, 6-2
- TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. SMITH, Errol (LMU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
- GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. MORENO, Lucas (LMU) 6-1, 6-7, 6-4
- PEARCE, John (BYU) def. BOYCE, Charles (LMU) 7-5, 6-2
- PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) vs. BORCHENKO, Nick (LMU) 6-5 (DNF)
Order of finish: (2, 3, 4, 5)
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