PROVO -- A regional rivalry will take place when the No. 46 BYU men’s tennis team travel to Idaho to face No. 26 Boise State. The teams have competed 28 times with BYU winning 16 of those matches.
“Boise State is a good, well-coached team,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We need to play good, solid matches from top to bottom to come out with a win.”
BYU enters the match coming off a 4-1 loss to No. 58 Middle Tennessee in last week’s HEB Invitational. Despite the defeat the Cougars jumped 19 spots in the rankings to No. 46, marking the team’s highest ranking in the last ten years.
“We’re making good progress and our newest ranking reflects that,” Pearce said. “But there’s still a long way to go in the season.”
Boise State is currently 7-6 on the season with its most recent match ending in a 6-1 loss to No. 18 Texas A & M. The team boasts three ranked singles players, No. 26 Clancy Shields, No. 61 Kean Feeder and No. 70 James Meredith. Meredith and Feeder are also ranked in doubles, with the duo claiming the No. 54 spot.
The Broncos beat BYU 5-2 when the teams last met in 2006. Last year’s match was cancelled due to inclement weather.
Saturday’s match against Boise State begins at 11 a.m. MT.