ORLANDO, Fla. — No. 9 seed BYU fought point-for-point with top-seeded and No. 8 seed UCF but fell 4-2 in the Big 12 quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.
The Cougars (19-8) were within reach throughout the match, but a narrow doubles point and three singles losses ultimately proved the difference.
BYU opened with a competitive showing in doubles, with all three courts tightly contested. Gracie Levelston and Kendall Kovick struck first at No. 1, winning the opening game on a deciding point and building a 3-1 lead. The pair remained even late at 4-4 before the Knights closed the final two games for a 6-4 win.
At No. 2, Sage Bergeson and YuYun Chen fell behind early, trailing 3-0 and 4-1 before dropping the set 6-3.
On court three, Bella Lewis and Sue Yan Tan delivered one of the grittiest performances of the match. After trading games early, Lewis and Tan won a deciding point to take a 3-2 lead and extended it to 4-2. UCF responded to even the score at 4-4, but Lewis answered with a clutch shot to tie the match again at 5-5. Lewis and Tan continued to battle from a deficit, but trailed 6-5 when UCF secured the doubles point.
Trailing 1-0, BYU responded in singles with strong efforts across the lineup.
On court one, No. 109-ranked Levelston faced No. 115-ranked Jantje Tilbuerger in a marquee matchup. After trading games early, Levelston won a key deuce point to take a 3-2 lead and eventually forced a tiebreak. Levelston controlled the breaker from the start, jumping out to a 4-1 advantage and closing it 7-3 on a perfectly placed lob. Tilbuerger responded in the second set, taking it 6-4. In the third, Levelston held an early 3-1 lead before the match went unfinished.
At No. 4, Chen gave BYU its first point with a composed 6-4, 6-3 win. Chen built a 4-0 lead in the opening set and weathered a late push before closing it out, then carried momentum into the second to control the match throughout.
At No. 5, Bergeson delivered one of the match’s biggest momentum swings. After taking the first set 7-5, Bergeson fell behind 4-0 in the second before rallying to win five straight games. Bergeson sealed the match 6-4 with aggressive play down the stretch, giving BYU a 2-1 lead.
UCF responded with wins on courts two and six to regain control. Kovick dropped a 6-2, 6-3 decision at No. 2 despite multiple deuce battles, while Lewis fell in a second-set tiebreak after forcing a deciding set opportunity.
The match was ultimately clinched on court three, where Tan battled through a back-and-forth three-set match. After taking the first set 7-5, Tan dropped the second 6-3. In the third, Tan fought to stay within reach, winning key deuce points and leveling the score late, but UCF pulled away for a 6-4 win.
UCF improves to 19-3 on the season, while BYU concludes its Big 12 Championship run with a 19-8 record.