PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis pulled a 4-0 sweep against WCC foe Santa Clara Saturday night at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.
“Santa Clara is a well-coached team; every single one of their guys is a competitor and they always fight hard,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We always prepare and expect a battle when we play them. I thought getting a decisive win was really important for us, so I’m really pleased. I felt like we came out and played solid doubles on every court. We didn’t give up one point today and that’s so hard to do. I think that once again shows you what fighters these guys are. That’s what this team is about; every guy is going to fight every single point. No one wants to be the guy to put a point on the board for the opposing team. To the man, I couldn’t be more proud of everybody.”
"Sean played a terrific match on court one," Pearce added. "Mateo got the next win, kind of back-and-forth, but he prevailed. I was really proud of Ben and Sam because they were almost simultaneously done at one point away, but I’m proud of both of them. Sam hanging on and coming back and Ben coming off the bench; he’s so strong in that position. I was also really proud of Jeffrey still on the court battling when the match finished. I just think overall, it was a solid win for us against a good team and I couldn’t be more proud of our guys."
The Cougars (6-2, 1-0 WCC) started off strong and claimed the doubles point against the Broncos (4-3, 0-1 WCC), who were picked second in the WCC coaches preseason poll. BYU duo Matthew Pearce and Mateo Vereau Melendez finished first in the No. 3 spot with a quick 6-0 victory over Connor Garnett and Rob Seby. At No. 1, BYU's Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu followed after topping Andrew Gu and Jesus Barajas, 6-3.
Hill claimed the first singles point for BYU in the No. 1 position after taking down Barajas in a quick 6-1, 6-2 victory. Up 2-0, the Cougars claimed another point from No. 3 singles as Vereau bested Garnett 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.
Off the bench in No. 4 singles, Gajardo came through and completed the sweep for BYU by swiftly defeating Arthur Neuhaus 6-2, 6-1.
The Cougars’ continue play at home with a doubleheader on Friday, Feb. 15. They will face New Mexico at 11 a.m. MDT and UC Irvine at 5:30 p.m. MDT.
MATCH RESULTS
BYU 4, Santa Clara 0
DOUBLES RESULTS
- Sean Hill/Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) def. Andrew Gu/Jesus Barajas (SCU-M) 6-3
- Sam Tullis/Ben Gajardo (BYU) vs. Vasileios Iliopoulos/Arthur Neuhaus (SCU-M) 5-3, unfinished
- Mateo Vereau/Matthew Pearce (BYU) def. Connor Garnett/Robert Seby (SCU-M) 6-0
Order of finish: (3, 1)
SINGLES RESULTS
- Sean Hill (BYU) def. Jesus Barajas (SCU-M) 6-1, 6-2
- Jeffrey Hsu (BYU) vs. Andrew Gu (SCU-M) 4-6, 6-4, 3-4, unfinished
- Mateo Vereau (BYU) def. Connor Garnett (SCU-M) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
- Sam Tullis (BYU) vs. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU-M) 6-4, 4-6, 5-1, unfinished
- Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Arthur Neuhaus (SCU-M) 6-2, 6-1
- Matthew Pearce (BYU) vs. Robert Seby (SCU-M) 1-1, unfinished
Order of finish: (1, 3, 5)
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