PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis took down No. 11 UCF, 4-2, at home on Thursday evening. This is the highest-ranked team the Cougars have beaten in over 25 years.
"Super proud of every player on our team, our coaching and support staff," said head coach Zack Warren. "It was a special evening in Provo, one these boys have been working extremely hard for. They'll always keep this with them and we'll look to continue to build on it."
After a tight team match, Redd Owen was able to clinch the win in a long second-set tiebreak, winning the breaker 8-6. This was the sixth point of the night and gave BYU the points it needed to secure its first Big 12 win since joining the conference.
The Cougars moved to 1-2 in conference play and picked up their first-ranked win of the year after suffering close losses to No. 70 Denver and No. 69 Texas Tech.
Doubles Results
No. 44 Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. Yassine Dlimi/Emilio Sanchez (UCF), 6-1
Hardy Owen/Alex Edmonston (BYU) unf. Paul Colin/Liam Branger (UCF), 3-5
Tygen Goldammer/TJ Wells (BYU) def. Medhi Benchakroun/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF), 6-3
Singles Results
Wally Thayne (BYU) unf. No. 90 Yassine Dlimi (UCF), 1-6 6-2 5-5
Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. No. 69 Medhi Benchakroun (UCF), 6-2 6-2
Redd Owen (BYU) def. Paul Colin (UCF), 6-3 7-6(6)
Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Adam Chodur (BYU), 6-2 6-2
Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Tygen Goldammer (BYU), 7-5 6-3
TJ Wells (BYU) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF), 6-1 6-4
BYU got off to a good start as they dominated the doubles portion of the match. No. 44 Thayne/Fuchs got the first win of the contest as they got two early breaks and won the set 6-1. Goldammer/Wells followed shortly behind with a 6-3 win ending the doubles play.
After doubles play, the Cougars had their hands full in singles play. Giamichelle was able to secure the first point for the Knights beating Chodur 6-2, 6-2. Wells followed shortly behind with a win for BYU, dominating the first set, 6-1. After he dropped a break early in the second he battled back and finished the match 6-4.
BYU had Fuchs’ win on the heels of Wells’ as he beat No. 69 Benchakroun in two dominant sets. Fuchs got up breaks early in both sets and cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory putting the Cougars just one point away from the win.
Oliveira kept the Knights in it as he got the two-set win against Goldammer. This left just R. Owen and Thayne still in play to decide the match.
On court one, Thayne was not able to find a rhythm in the first set as he dropped it quickly losing, 6-1. He bounced back in the second, serving big and breaking twice taking that set 6-2. The third was neck and neck throughout as neither player could get the upper hand. The match would end at 5-5 because R. Owen picked up the fourth and final point for BYU.
On court three, R. Owen got down early in the first, before rallying and winning four games straight to take the first set 6-3. In the next set, the players traded breaks and neither could build momentum. At 6-5, R. Owen forced a match point but was unsuccessful in ending it there.
Colin forced a tiebreak in which R. Owen got down a mini-break in his first at serve. He was able to dig out of it and force a second match point at 6-5 in the tiebreak. Colin won that point but then lost the next and was put into the third match point of the night. R. Owen finished the match there as he came into the net and forced an error ending not only his match but the whole contest for the Cougars.
"That UCF team is one of the best in the nation and currently ranked no. 11 in the country, which shows the success they have had this season," said Warren. "Our fans filled every seat in our outdoor facility and we couldn't have done it without them."
Up Next
BYU stays at home as it now takes on No. 2 TCU on Thursday, March 27 at 5:00 p.m.