PROVO, Utah - The Cougars made history with their first win over the Cowboys in four decades with a 4-2 win over No. 35 Oklahoma State on Saturday in front of a capacity crowd at the Outdoor Tennis Courts.
"Guys competed so well against an outstanding opponent, who already has multiple wins against top 20 teams this year," head coach Zack Warren said. "Oklahoma State is a class team, lead by a class coach. Really proud of the team’s dedication to the process, work ethic and attention to the details, which paid off today."
In doubles, BYU found itself down early after OSU claimed court No. 2 with a 6-0 win. Attention then turned to court No. 1 where Adam Chodur and Otto Schreiner battled in a back-and-forth match filled with momentum swings before the visiting Cowboys secured a 7-5 win. The third court went unfinished, sending the Cougars into singles trailing 1-0.
With the Cowboys holding the early lead, BYU began to respond in singles by claiming three of the six opening sets. Chodur took his first set 6-2, while David Duong and Goldammer earned close wins of 7-5 and 6-4.
Duong and Goldammer carried that momentum into the second sets with commanding wins. Duong recorded his first 6-0 set victory of the season, and Goldammer followed with a 6-2 result to give BYU a 2-1 lead.
Although Chodur dropped a tight 7-5 second set, the Cougars continued to gain momentum on the back three courts. Yubel Ubri, Caden Hasler and Hardy Owen each claimed their second sets, leaving four courts headed to decisive third sets.
Owen then extended BYU’s lead to 3-1, battling back to secure a convincing 6-1 third-set win over freshman phenom Haydar Gokpinar, who had entered the match on a 12-match singles winning streak.
After Chodur fell in a close 6-4 final set, the Cougars needed either freshman of Hasler or Ubri to secure the clinching point with the lead narrowed to 3-2.
BYU ultimately sealed the victory when Hasler battled back for a 6-3 win, clinching the match and delivering the Cougars their second Big 12 win since joining the conference two seasons ago, and their fourth-highest ranked victory of the past decade.
Coach Warren spoke about the electric atmosphere and the support from from the home crowd following the match.
"Grateful to Cougar Nation, it was a packed facility and a special college tennis atmosphere," Warren said. "We’re looking forward to getting back out there and competing together again next week."
With the win, BYU improved to 13-3, snapped an eight-match Big 12 drought and now travels to Orlando, Florida to face No. 10 Central Florida on Thursday, March 19 at 4:00 MST.