PROVO, Utah - After dropping its final home match of the season Thursday against Arizona State, No. 72 BYU men’s tennis will conclude its regular season on the road against Utah on Saturday at 4 p.m. MT at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center, approximately an hour from BYU campus.
The Cougars will enter the match aiming to end a season-high five-match losing streak, during which they have been outscored 12-1 over the last three matches. After ending a three-match doubles drought Thursday with a 6-3 win from TJ Wells and Tygen Goldammer, followed by a 6-4 win from Otto Schreiner and Adam Chodur, BYU will look to carry that momentum into singles play, where its last point came four matches ago against Texas Tech.
Keeping up with the Big 12
While all nine programs receive an automatic bid to the Big 12 tournament in Orlando on April 16, BYU has an opportunity to earn a quarterfinal berth with a win over Utah. The Cougars would secure the No. 7 seed and avoid the play-in match that eliminated them last season in a 4-3 loss to Oklahoma State.
| Big 12 Standings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Ranking | Big 12 record | Overall | Streak |
| Arizona | 10 | 7-0 | 19-3 | W14 |
| TCU | 4 | 6-1 | 18-5 | W5 |
| Baylor | 11 | 6-1 | 20-7 | W8 |
| UCF | 15 | 4-3 | 18-5 | L1 |
| Arizona State | 27 | 4-3 | 17-8 | W3 |
| Texas Tech | 70 | 2-6 | 12-11 | L4 |
| BYU | 72 | 1-6 | 13-8 | L5 |
| Oklahoma State | 41 | 1-6 | 14-10 | L6 |
| Utah | - | 1-6 | 5-15 | L2 |
Scouting the Utes
Utah will be the first unranked opponent BYU has faced since playing Idaho on March 6 at the Boise State Invitational.
The Utes are 5-15 overall and 1-6 in conference play, having lost six of their last seven matches. Utah’s most recent win came in a 4-2 victory over Texas Tech at home, a team BYU fell to by the same score. Prior to facing BYU, the Utes will take on Idaho in a regional match Friday.
Utah’s top singles player this season has been Simeon Terziev, who holds an 8-4 record but has dropped his last three matches. In doubles, the Utes’ most successful duo has been Dante Teramo and Balthazar Huss, who have a 9-5 record together, including back-to-back wins over Texas Tech and Arizona.
Historically, the two programs have met every year since 2000, except for 2022, with BYU holding a 16-9 advantage. Since both teams joined the Big 12, Utah has won both matchups, including a 4-2 victory in Provo last season.