RADFORD, Va. - BYU men’s tennis notched a 6-1 victory over the Radford Highlanders on Friday morning at the Radford Tennis Complex in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
The result moves the Cougars to 10-3 with nine straight wins, just two shy of equaling an 11-match streak during the 2018-19 campaign.
“Radford fought really hard,” said BYU assistant coach Jonathan Sanchez. “They came out strong as doubles was close on a couple of courts. After yesterday’s preparation after playing North Carolina Central, we were acclimated to playing outside and really stepped up with Jack out of the lineup.”
After collecting the doubles point with 6-3 wins on both courts one and two, the Cougars captured five of the six singles matches in straight sets with wins from David Duong at No. 5, Redd Owen at No. 3, Wally Thayne at No. 1 for the clinch, TJ Wells at No. 6 and Tygen Goldammer at No. 4. Jack Barnett did not compete in singles as the senior felt under the weather.
Doubles
1. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Tom Saporta/Guilherme Severin (Radford) 6-3
2. Jack Barnettt/Redd Owen (BYU) def. Filippo Marangoni/Manfredi Vergine (Radford) 6-3
3. Dominik Wijntjes/Evan Edwards (Radford) vs. TJ Wells/Tygen Goldammer (BYU) 4-3, unfinished
Order of finish: 1, 2
Thayne and Fuchs jumped out to a 4-1 lead as the teams then traded off games until a 6-3 victory. Jack Barnett and Owen’s win by the same score on court two extended the duo’s team-high doubles win total to nine on the year. Both Thayne/Fuchs and Barnett/Owen have only dropped two matches apiece this year.
With the doubles point clinched, Goldammer and Wells’ match was abandoned as the pair of freshmen trailed 4-3.
Singles
1. Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Guilherme Severin (Radford) 7-5, 6-0
2. Tom Saporta (Radford) def. Zach Fuchs (BYU) 6-2, 7-6 (5)
3. Redd Owen (BYU) def. Filippo Marangoni (Radford) 6-0, 6-2
4. Tygen Goldammer (BYU) def. Evan Edwards (Radford) 6-4, 6-2
5. David Duong (BYU) def. Manfredi Vergine (Radford) 6-0, 6-3
6. TJ Wells (BYU) def. Dominik Wijntjes (Radford) 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: 5, 3, 1, 6, 4, 2
With Barnett out, the lineup shifted in the absence of the senior’s usual No. 1 spot. Each moved up a slot as TJ Wells appeared at No. 6 singles for his first singles match since Feb. 9 at UC Riverside.
Duong completed a 6-0, 6-3 match on court five first to improve to 7-2 on the year. After racking up his second 6-0 set win this season, the freshman trailed 2-1 early in the second set before winning five of six games to close out the Highlanders’ Manfredi Vergine 6-3.
Owen took down Filippo Marangoni at No. 3 singles next with a score of 6-0, 6-2 to put BYU up 3-0 in the dual match tally. The sophomore didn’t give Marangoni any opportunities to get into the match throughout, remaining in control with consistency and applying pressure when needed.
In Thayne’s second appearance at No. 1 singles this year, Radford’s Guilherme Severin stole a pair of breaks as the junior trailed 4-1. Thayne remained steady, figuring out Guilherme’s game to dig deep and surge ahead for a 7-5 first set win. Having just won six of the last seven games, Thayne carried all his momentum with him into the second set for a dominant 6-0 win. He joined Duong and Owen as one of three Cougars to record a perfect 6-0 set on the day.
On court six, Wells secured a break and held his own serve en route to a 6-3 first set win. Trading games early in the second set, he earned some separation to once again rack up a 6-3 win and improve to 3-2 on the year in singles play.
Despite trailing 3-4 on court four, Goldammer earned a break and ended up with a 6-4 victory for the first set. With the score at 2-2 in set two, the freshman won three straight games to set up a 6-3 second set score as the freshman wrapped up yet another straight sets triumph for BYU.
At No. 2 singles, Zach Fuchs fell in two sets after a second set tiebreaker. After dropping the first set 6-2 and trailing 4-2 in the next, Fuchs earned a break to set up the tiebreaker. There, the junior nearly forced a third set, but fell 7-5.
Next, BYU will face its final non-conference opponent of the season at Air Force on Friday, March 8 at 5 p.m. MT. Big 12 play is slated to begin on March 21.