LOS ANGELES - BYU men’s tennis fell 4-3 at Loyola Marymount on Thursday, dropping its second 4-3 contest of the season in the first of two road matches in two days.
Despite losing the doubles point, the deciding two singles matches were determined in three sets. With the team outcome decided and LMU holding a 4-1 advantage, the Cougars won their final two singles matches.
“Despite some challenging conditions, we fought very well on all the courts and played with a lot of heart today,” said BYU men’s tennis assistant coach Jonathan Sanchez. “We will make a few adjustments and come out stronger for tomorrow’s match at UC Irvine.”
No. 35 Zach Fuchs and Wally Thayne were knotted at 5-5 in their No. 1 doubles match before it went unfinished. Thayne, Redd Owen and David Duong posted points for the Cougars in singles. The victory for Duong came in the highly-touted freshman’s first collegiate start.
Doubles
1. No. 35 Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) vs. Sebastian Nothhaft/Toky Ranaivo (LMU) 5-5, unf.
2. Max Wuelfing/Arthur Pantino (LMU) def. Jack Barnett/Redd Owen (BYU) 6-4
3. Yassine Smiej/Tygen Goldammer (LMU) def. Tygen Goldammer/TJ Wells (BYU) 6-4
Order of finish: 3, 2
Loyola Marymount jumped out to a 5-3 lead at No. 3 doubles. Freshman duo Tygen Goldammer and TJ Wells then held serve to make it 4-5 before LMU did the same to seize the match 6-4.
Jack Barnett and Owen went up 4-3 on court two, but Wuelfing and Pantino held serve to make it 4-4 before earning a break for the Lions. Up 5-4 and serving, LMU strung together a couple of powerful serves that went unreturned to win the team doubles point.
Fuchs and Thayne kept pace with Nothhaft and Ranaivo the entirety of the match, including an authoritative ace by Fuchs to go up 5-4. The Lions held serve to knot the score at 5-5 before the stoppage.
Singles
1. Yassine Smiej (LMU) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Sebastian Nothhaft (LMU) 6-2, 6-2
3. Arthur Pantino (LMU) def. Zach Fuchs (BYU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Redd Owen (BYU) def. Toky Ranaivo (LMU) 6-2, 5-7, 11-9
5. Max Wuelfing (LMU) def. Tygen Goldammer (BYU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
6. David Duong (BYU) def. Alex Padro Parra (LMU) 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3, 5, 4, 6
The Cougars tied things up with a victory at No. 2 singles, where Thayne took down Nothhaft in straight sets. The junior jumped out to a 3-0 lead that eventually became a 6-2 set win. After going up 3-0 in the second set, Nothhaft held serve and registered a break to make things interesting. In the ensuing game, Thayne slammed two overheads in a row to set up a perfectly-placed winning lob at the left baseline. Thayne won the game, then forged ahead to another 6-2 win.
LMU countered to take the lead again as Barnett fell on court one to Smiej 6-4, 6-4. After staring down a 5-1 deficit in the second set, the senior showed resilience, staving off a loss by winning three straight games before ultimately suffering the setback.
The Lions went up 3-1 after Pantino defeated Fuchs 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in a back-and-forth battle at No. 3 singles. Fuchs jumped out to a 4-3 lead in the first set before a break gave way to a 6-4 loss. The junior recovered in the second set, remaining in control throughout to earn the set victory at 6-3. An early 4-1 deficit, however, proved too much to overcome in the third set as both held serves before it ended at 6-3.
With the three remaining matches in third sets, LMU clinched the dual match on court five as Goldammer dropped a three set match to Weulfing. The two traded off scores of 6-3 the entire way, as Goldammer fell 6-3 in the first set before taking a commanding 4-1 lead and holding serve the rest of the way to win 6-3 in the second set. Despite an early 2-2 start and slim 4-3 deficit in the final set, Wuelfing won the final two games to claim a 6-3 win.
With the LMU team victory decided, attention turned to courts four and six, where Owen and Duong were in the midst of third set battles. In Owen’s first set, he held serve to take a 4-2 lead after wearing out his opponent on two lobs before a drop shot winner. The sophomore then broke serve to go up 5-2 and win the first set. Despite a 3-3 tie early in the second set, Owen fell 5-7 before emerging on top in a 11-9 super tiebreaker.
Duong’s hard-fought, first career victory at No. 6 singles demonstrated toughness. The freshman cruised to a 6-2 first set win followed by a tight, 7-5 tiebreaker defeat in the second set. The third set went back and forth with Duong maintaining a slim advantage before winning 6-4.
The Cougars (1-2) face a quick turnaround as they’ll be back in action tomorrow at 12 p.m. MST, facing UC Irvine at Anteater Tennis Stadium.