SPOKANE, Wash. – BYU men’s tennis returned to West Coast Conference action Friday afternoon, falling 4-0 to Gonzaga. The Cougars (3-10, 1-1 WCC) held leads at No. 2 doubles and No. 1 and No. 2 singles, but those matches went unfinished before BYU could see out the potential victories.
Doubles
- Sasha Trkulja/Matthew Hollingworth (GU) def. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) 6-2
- Jack Barnett/Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) vs. Leon Roider/Arthus Bassetiere (GU) 5-2, unf.
- Tom Hann/Pablo Gomez Galvan (GU) def. Redd Owen/Brigham Andrus (BYU) 6-2
Order of finish: 1, 3
In No. 1 doubles, two break points gave the Bulldogs an early 4-0 lead. Thayne and Fuchs recovered to hold their serves moving forward, but Trkulja and Hollingworth maintained their advantage to win 6-2.
No. 3 doubles started with a 2-all tie before Gonzaga won four-straight games to win 6-2 and clinch the doubles point. The result meant No. 2 doubles went unfinished with Barnett and Jakovljevic on the verge of victory. The Cougars went up 3-0 early on and lead 5-2 when their match was stopped.
Singles
- Jack Barnett (BYU) vs. Sasha Trkulja (GU) 6-3, 3-6, unf.
- Wally Thayne (BYU) vs. Oliver Andersson (GU) 6-2, 5-4, unf.
- Zach Fuchs (BYU) vs. Arthus Bassetiere (GU) 3-6, 4-4, unf.
- Matthew Hollingworth (GU) def. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
- Tom Hann (GU) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
- Pablo Gomez Galvan (GU) def. Brigham Andrus (BYU) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 4, 6
Owen responded after going down 2-0 in the first set at No. 5 singles by winning a game while receiving to trail 2-1. However, he lost the next game on deuce point while serving, with Hann then winning three more to take the set 6-1. Hann would once again turn a 2-1 advantage into a 6-1 victory in set two.
No. 4 singles saw Jakovljevic lose both sets on a one break margin. In the first he was tied 2-2 before falling 6-3, while the second set was knotted at 4 until Hollingworth won the last two games to win 6-4.
Andrus trailed 5-1 in set one at No. 6 singles before rallying to only lose 6-3. In set two he started up 1-0 after earning a break, but Gomez Galvan added a break of his own to tie the score at 1. The set was later locked at 3, with the Bulldog breaking the tie and taking three-straight games to win 6-3 and secure the dual match for Gonzaga.
BYU was playing well at the top of the lineup, with Barnett and Thayne both winning the first set in their matches. No. 1 singles saw Barnett with a 2-0 lead in set one until Trkulja fought back with two-straight games of his own. Barnett then put together one more run to go ahead 4-2, later adding another break at the end of the set to win 6-3.
Gonzaga took set two 6-3 just before the dual match concluded, which caused the remaining matches to go unfinished. Barnett recovered from being down 2-0 in that set to force a 2-all tie before Trkulja took the lead again.
Thayne’s set one win included an early break to start out with a 3-1 advantage. He continued to control the set regardless of if he was serving or receiving, adding another break point to take the first set 6-2. The second set was much closer, with neither side losing their serve until they were tied at 4-all. Thayne held his serve one last time to have a 5-4 lead at the match stoppage.
Gonzaga took set one at No. 3 singles after Fuchs lost a deuce point to fall behind 4-3, with Bassetiere later converting on a second break point to win 6-3. Set two nearly saw Fuchs go ahead with a break of his own, but he lost a deuce point to keep the set tied 4-4 when the match ended.
BYU concludes an eight-match road trip tomorrow at Portland. The match begins at 2:00 p.m. PDT in the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.