ROLLING HILLS, Calif. – BYU’s men’s tennis advanced three singles players and all four doubles duos into the round of 16 at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament on Thursday.
“Big day of tennis for the guys,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce. “We’re here to get matches against some of the best competition in the country, and that’s exactly what we’re getting. We had some big wins today and some tough losses, but it’s all good. It was a beautiful day to be a collegiate tennis player.”
All eight Cougars competed in the open singles bracket. Vinicius Feijao Nogueira fell to Alex Dominguez of the UC Santa Barbara (UCSB), 4-6, 4-6. Ben Gajardo lost his first match to Washington’s Adam Torocsik, 4-6, 3-6. Matthew Pearce, Mateo Vereau Melendez, Sean Hill, Jeffrey Hsu, Sam Tullis and Kobe Tran all had byes into the round of 32.
In the singles round of 32, Pearce topped Ewen Lumsden of Washington in three sets, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2. Hill defeated Georgetown’s Carlos Grande in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0. Hsu faced Matthew Tsolakyan of UCLA and won 6-4, 6-4. S. Tullis lost to Joseph Totheram of UCSB in a close match, 6-7, 2-6. Tran fell to Igor Karpovets of the University of Arizona 6-7, 1-6. Melendez faced UC Davis’s Ivan Thamma and fell short at 6-4, 6-1, after a hard fought match.
BYU's Nogueira and Pearce teamed up In the first round of doubles defeating Georgetown’s Chase Brannen and Adil Khan, 8-5. Hill and Hsu topped another Georgetown duo, Ian Witmer and Michael Chen, 8-5. S. Tullis and Gajardo handily beat Jack Kite and Rory Samuels from Southern Methodist University, 8-1. Tran and Melendez received a bye into the doubles round of 16.
Pearce, Hill and Hsu will compete in the main singles draw beginning at 9 a.m. PST. Nogueira, Gajardo, Vereau, S. Tullis and Tran will continue singles play in the singles consolation bracket.
The four advancing Cougar doubles duos continue play in the round of 16 tomorrow, beginning at 12 p.m. PST.