Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Helping BYU men's tennis bounce back after a close loss on Friday, junior John Pearce clinched the 4-2 victory over Santa Clara Saturday night at the BYU indoor tennis courts. 

"I am amazed and inspired by the grit and resilience of my guys to bounce back like we did after a tough match last night," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "I was really proud of them for coming out and playing with the determination like they did. We had a great doubles performance tonight and I thought we competed really well at every position. I was also really impressed with the fight of Santa Clara. We got up 3-0 early, and they just didn't go away. My hat goes off to their effort."

BYU (9-7, 2-0 WCC) secured the doubles point for the 11th time this season, picking up wins over the Broncos (8-2, 0-1 WCC) on courts one and three. Jeremy Bourgeois and Matthew Pearce topped Robert Seby and Jesus Barajas 6-2. Jacob Sullivan and Aidan Carrazedo teamed up for the first time this year, taking down Andrew Gu and Kamran Khan, 6-4.

Senior Keaton Cullimore kicked off singles play with his second victory of the weekend at the No. 1 slot with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Seby. Matthew Pearce earned the Cougars' third point of the match as he bested Barajas 6-4, 7-6(3) before Santa Clara's Connor Garnett fought back with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(4) victory against Bourgeois at third singles. Sullivan then fell 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) to Andrew Gu at the No. 2 slot.

As the Broncos closed the gap 3-2, John Pearce dominated his second set to beat Vasileios Iliopoulos 7-5, 6-2 and clinch the victory for the Cougars. Carrazedo was ahead 6-3, 4-2 against Khan when the match was won. 

Next, BYU travels to Las Vegas for a regional matchup against UNLV on Saturday, March 11, at 11 a.m. PST. 

BYU Men's Tennis 4, Santa Clara 2

Doubles competition 

1. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. Robert Seby/Jesus Barajas (SCU) 6-2 
2. CULLIMORE, Keaton/PEARCE, John (BYU) vs. Connor Garnett/Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) 5-5, unfinished 
3. SULLIVAN, Jacob/CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU) def. Andrew Gu/Kamran Khan (SCU) 6-4 

Order of finish: (1,3)

Singles competition

1. CULLIMORE, Keaton (BYU) def. Robert Seby (SCU) 6-3, 6-1
2. Andrew Gu (SCU) def. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU) 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3)
3. Connor Garnett (SCU) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4)
4. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. Jesus Barajas (SCU) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
5. PEARCE, John (BYU) def. Vasileios Iliopoulos (SCU) 7-5, 6-2
6. CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU) vs. Kamran Khan (SCU) 6-3, 4-2, unfinished

Order of finish: (1,4,3,2,5)

PROVO, Utah – BYU men's tennis travels to Logan on Friday to take on regional opponent Utah State before hosting Santa Clara for the Cougars’ second conference matchup of the season on Saturday.

Last weekend, BYU (8-6, 1-0 WCC) split matches with two nationally-ranked teams on the road. After falling to No. 23 Oregon 7-0 on Friday, the Cougars upset No. 42 Drake on Saturday as senior Aidan Carrazedo clinched the 4-3 match at No. 6 singles. Strong play from Jacob Sullivan and John Pearce as well as a 7-6(14) doubles victory from Carrazedo and Sam Tullis helped the Cougars take down the Bulldogs.

Utah State (7-6, 0-0 MWC) concluded play at the ITA National Team Indoors with a 4-0 loss to No. 10 Georgia. Prior to the tournament, the Aggies were riding a five-match win streak, including an upset over No. 12 TCU. BYU fell 4-3 to No. 70 Utah State in Provo last season. This will be the Cougars' first match in Logan since 1985.

Santa Clara (7-1, 0-0 WCC) picked up a 4-1 victory over Grand Canyon on Sunday to remain undefeated at home so far this season. Connor Garnett and Andrew Gu lead the Broncos with 10 singles victories. Garnett and teammate Robert Seby were named the WCC Men’s Doubles Team of the Week earlier this month. BYU topped Santa Clara 4-3 on the road last season.

BYU plays Utah State at the Sports Academy and Racquet Club in Logan, Utah on Friday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m. MST before returning the BYU indoor tennis courts to play Santa Clara on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MST. Admission to the match will be free and there will be free pizza. Links to live stats and a video stream can be found on the men’s tennis schedule page.