PROVO, Utah – Ben Gajardo’s singles win sealed the BYU men’s tennis team’s victory over Grand Canyon University, Saturday at the Indoor Tennis Courts on BYU's campus. The Cougars would go on to win the match 6-1.
“Grand Canyon and Dr. Greg Prudhomme have a great group of kids," said BYU head coach Dave Porter. "It was a fairly-played, hard-fought match. It was an excellent first match of the year for us. We're very happy with the results in terms of outcome. We learned some things that we'll need to do better to be the team that we're capable of being this year, but all-in-all, we're happy. We're nursing some injuries, and we hope that those will be taken care of by next week when we play Weber State.”
The Cougars (1-0) got off to a quick start as they claimed the doubles point over the Lopes (0-1). Mateo Vereau Melendez and Matheus Ferreira Leite grabbed the first 6-4 win over Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak at the No. 1 position. Sean Hill and Jack Barnett finished next at No. 3 doubles, defeating Wolmar Boris-Moller and Loic Van Zeggelaar, 6-3.
At the No. 2 slot in singles play, Barnett quickly defeated Justin Cvitanovic 6-2, 6-1. Sam Tullis followed at the No. 3 position with a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over Jiri Novak. At No. 4 singles, Ben Gajardo beat Freddie Grant 7-5, 6-4, clinching the match for BYU.
Hill outlasted Valentin Lang for a 6-4, 6-4 win in No. 1 singles. The Lopes won their only match of the day as Van Zeggelaar defeated Ferreira Leite 7-5, 6-4. Dominik Jakovljevic then beat Boris-Moller 6-4, 7-6 (1) to complete the match.
The Cougars will be at home again next Saturday, Jan. 23, to host Weber State at the Indoor Tennis Courts at 3 p.m. MST.
MATCH RESULTS
BYU 6, Grand Canyon 1
Doubles Competition
1. Mateo Vereau Melendez/Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU) def. Valentin Lang/Jiri Novak (GCU), 6-4
2. Sam Tullis/Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Justin Cvitanovic/Freddie Grant (GCU), 6-4
3. Sean Hill/Jack Barnett (BYU) vs. Wolmar Boris-Moller/Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU), 6-3
Order of finish: (1, 3, 2)
Singles Competition
1. Sean Hill (BYU) def. Valentin Lang (GCU), 6-4, 6-4
2. Jack Barnett (BYU) def. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU), 6-2, 6-1
3. Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Jiri Novak (GCU), 6-1, 7-6 (3)
4. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Freddie Grant (GCU), 7-5, 6-4
5. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Wolmar Boris-Moller (GCU), 6-4, 7-6 (1)
6. Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU) def. Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU), 7-5, 6-4
Order of finish: (2, 3, 4, 1, 6, 5)