DURHAM, N.C. - BYU men's tennis defeated North Carolina Central 6-1 in the schools' first-ever meeting, extending the Cougars' win streak to eight matches to mark the longest stretch since an 11-match run in 2019.
Zach Fuchs upped his team-high singles win streak to seven in a row as Jack Barnett and Redd Owen racked up their sixth straight in doubles.
The victory extends BYU's record to 9-3 with two more matches in non-conference play. Thursday's contest became the Cougars' first in an East coast state since 2020.
Doubles
1. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs vs. Oliver Saarinen/Kareem Hakim/Oliver Saarinen (NCCU) 4-4, unifinished
2. Jack Barnett/Redd Owen (BYU) def. Leo Fortier-Gariepy/Hugo Hidalgo Vega (NCCU) 6-3
3. TJ Wells/Tygen Goldammer (BYU) def. Neiman Sneed/Naresh Mithran Bharathy (NCCU) 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2
TJ Wells and Tygen Goldammer won first on the doubles side, scoring a break at 2-2 to seize momentum. The duo held serve and then earned another break and never looked back. With the 6-2 victory, the pair is 6-4 on the year together.
Barnett and Owen then secured the doubles point for the Cougars. The senior/sophomore combo surged ahead with a break when leading 4-3, holding serve in the final game to win 6-3.
Fuchs and Wally Thayne were deadlocked in a 4-4 battle when the match went abandoned.
Singles
1. Hugo Hidalgo Vega (NCCU) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 10-6
2. Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Kareem Hakim (NCCU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Leo Fortier-Gariepy (NCCU) 6-2, 6-0
4. Redd Owen (BYU) def. Naresh Mithran Bharathy (NCCU) 6-2, 6-4
5. David Duong (BYU) def. Oliver Saarinen (NCCU) 6-4, 6-4
6. Brian Chen (BYU) def. Lucas Artigas (NCCU) 6-4, 6-2
Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 1, 5, 6
Fuchs led the way for BYU in singles. The junior registered an early break to go up 1-0. After trading a couple of games with opponent Leo Fortier-Gariepy, the Los Altos, California native won out to claim the first set 6-2. He then quickly cruised to a 6-0 second set win.
On court two, Thayne improved to 9-2 on the year with a 6-3, 6-4 win. He first earned a break on opponent Kareem Hakim's second game serving to take a 3-1 advantage. He would then hold serve to go up 4-1 and trade off games before a 6-3 win. In set two, the junior trailed 4-3 before rattling off three games in a row for the straight sets win.
Owen claimed the doubles point for BYU. After dropping the first game, the sophomore won six of the next seven to make it 6-1 for the set. Set two saw the junior jump out to a comfortable margin early, and then winning points where it counted for a 6-4 triumph.
Barnett then fell in a long battle of three tiebreakers, decided by a super tiebreaker in place of the third set. Despite winning the first set tiebreaker 7-3 and holding a 4-2 lead in set two, opponent Hugo Hidalgo Vega countered to force the next tiebreaker and win 8-6. The senior was locked 6-6 in the super tiebreaker before falling 10-6.
David Duong played at No. 5 singles, trailing 3-2 early before seizing four of the next five games to win 6-4. The freshman then traded holding serves before a break on the match-deciding game for another 6-4 win.
Sophomore Brian Chen made his first appearance of the season at No. 6 singles, earning his spot on the win column. Knotted at 3-3, Chen got a break that led to a 6-4 first set win. He then cruised to a 6-2 second set victory.
Up Next
Originally slated for Friday, March 1 at 12 p.m. MST, the Cougars' match at Radford has been moved up to 8 a.m. due to forecasted rain. Although no live stream will be available, follow along with live stats here.