BOISE, Idaho – The No. 56 Cougars will compete in the first-place match against tournament host Boise State after earning a pair of wins Friday over Gonzaga and Idaho at the Boise Invitational.
The championship match is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. against the Broncos, who are coming off a pair of 4–0 victories in round-robin play.
BYU leads the regional rivalry with a 25–16 advantage, though the two programs have faced each other several times during fall competition in recent years. This season, the schools met at the Dar Walters Classic in September and again during the ITA Regional Championships in mid-October. Across those events, the Cougars and Broncos split singles play with a 2–2 record, while BYU won all three doubles matchups.
BYU vs. Gonzaga
Against Gonzaga, BYU rallied early with a decisive doubles win from Hardy Owen and Caden Hasler, 6–1. The Cougars were unable to secure the doubles point after Adam Chodur and Otto Schreiner, along with TJ Wells and Tygen Goldammer, both fell in tie-breakers, giving the Bulldogs an early 1–0 advantage heading into singles.
In singles play, Goldammer quickly evened the score, sweeping his match 6–0, 6–2. After H. Owen dropped his match with back-to-back 6–2 losses, the Cougars responded with the third straight singles sweep, as Hasler clinched a 6–4, 6–1 victory.
The remaining three courts all went to a third set. Redd Owen rebounded from a 6–1 opening-set loss to claim a 6–4, 6–3 comeback win, putting the Cougars within reach of the team victory. Chodur then sealed the 4–2 win for BYU, recovering from a 6–2 second-set loss to take the third set 7–5.
BYU vs. Idaho
In the evening match, the Cougars avenged their earlier doubles loss, as both pairs of Chodur and Schreiner, followed by Goldammer and Wells, earned wins to give BYU its first doubles point in three matches.
Leading 1–0, the Cougars carried that momentum into singles, where all six courts went to a third set. Chodur and Hasler each battled through three-set matches to give BYU a 3–0 advantage. After R. Owen dropped his match, David Duong secured the clinching point, winning in three sets to clinch the 4–1 victory for BYU.