Cougars rack up more wins on final day at Bedford Cup

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — BYU men’s tennis concluded competition at the ITA Bedford Cup in the Mountains Saturday, collecting five more victories to up the team total to 12 on the weekend.

Gallery Photo Credit: Air Force Athletics

“The team followed up yesterday with another great day,” said BYU men’s tennis head coach Zack Warren. “Jack [Barnett] and Redd [Owen] reached the doubles final of the top flight, which won’t be played due to Sunday play. Overall, we won four of five doubles matches today, playing excellent tennis.”

Barnett and Owen’s two doubles wins in the top flight Saturday were both the same score of 6-2. The duo first took down UNLV’s Dusan Rsovac and Ti Hirano before besting Boise State’s Caden Moortgat and Jan Lucca Marquardt.

Zach Fuchs and Wally Thayne defeated Air Force’s duo of Luke Wolf and Jack Brown in the doubles north quarterfinal 6-0 and then closed out their weekend with a tougher, 6-4 win over Denver’s Anish Sriniketh and Raffaello Papjcik. TJ Wells and Brian Chen fell in a tight match to Rajpal and Choi of Air Force, recording eight points in a tiebreak.

For singles play, Owen battled with Utah State senior Stijn Paardekooper in a straight set defeat that went to tiebreakers in both sets. The sophomore from Sandy, Utah extended the final tiebreaker score to nine points before falling 11-9.

“Redd came up just short in a hard-fought battle against the No. 1 seed (7-6, 7-6),” Warren said. “Zach collected a big win, outlasting his opponent 7-5 in the third set tiebreaker.”

Fuchs’ win over Air Force’s Jack Brown included bouncing back from a 4-6 loss in the first set to win consecutive sets, including a 7-5 triumph in the third set tiebreaker to close it out.

“Overall, it was a great weekend and great preparation for next week’s regional championships, which will be held back here in Colorado Springs,” Warren said. “Big thanks to the BYU fans, who were here yesterday and today. We’re looking forward to seeing them again next week. Let’s go Cougs!”

Next week’s ITA Mountain Region Championship will begin on Thursday, Sept. 28. Match times, draw details and more will be provided on the BYU men’s tennis homepage and social media platforms as they become available.

Full Saturday Results

Singles

East Semifinal - Flight A - Lightning

Tristan Sarap (Weber State) def. No. 103 Wally Thayne (BYU) 7-6 (4), 6-3

West Semifinal - Flight A - Lightning

Anton Ornberg (UNLV) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) - withdrawal

East Semifinal - Flight B - Raptor

Stijn Paardekooper (Utah State) def. Redd Owen (BYU) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9)

North Semifinal - Flight B - Raptor

Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Jack Brown (Air Force) 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)

South Final - Flight C - Falcon

TJ Wells (BYU) def. Luca Fe D’ostiani (New Mexico State) - withdrawal

West Semifinal - Flight D - Eagle

Creed Skinner (UNLV) def. Brian Chen (BYU) 6-3, 6-1

Doubles

East Quarterfinal

Owen/Barnett (BYU) def. Rsovac/Hirano (UNLV) 6-2

East Semifinal

Owen/Barnett (BYU) def. Moortgat/Marquardt (Boise State) 6-2

South Final

Rajpal/Choi (Air Force) def. Chen/Wells (BYU) 7-6 (8)

North Quarterfinal

Thayne/Fuchs (BYU) def. Wolf/Brown (Air Force) 6-0

North Semifinal

Thayne/Fuchs (BYU) def. Sriniketh/Papjcik (Denver) 6-4