PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis fell 4-3 to in-state rival No. 37 Utah in a close match Saturday afternoon at the Eccles Tennis Center.

“This match today had all the drama that goes along with a rivalry match,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “First of all, I give credit to Utah. They are having a good season and we are having a good season—it was a battle that went down to the last match. After winning the doubles point, we were immediately put on our heels, but we regrouped, we rallied, and we were in a position to win. I was extremely proud of the way our guys fought back today and gave us an opportunity to win. Good luck to Utah on the rest of their season.”

BYU (13-3) came out strong and won the doubles point against Utah (17-2). John Pearce and Ben Gajardo defeated Joe Woolley and Egbert Weverink 6-3 in the No. 2 slot. Securing the doubles point, undefeated duo Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu earned a 6-3 win over Russell Benkaim and Randy Cory in No. 1 doubles.

Moving into singles, Utah earned the first three wins with Little defeating Hsu 6-2, 7-5 in No. 2 singles, Woolley earning a 6-4, 6-4 win in No. 6 singles over David Ball and Santiago Sierra ending Gajardo’s winning streak 7-6, 6-3.

With BYU down 3-1, the Cougars battled and won the next two lines of singles. Tullis defeated Cory 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, while Hill came out on top against David Micevksi 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Tied at 3-all, the match came down to BYU’s Pearce versus Utah’s Weverink. In a three-set match, Weverink prevailed 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, giving Utah a 4-3 win.

BYU hosts UNLV Monday, March 26, at 1 p.m. MST at the Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting.

Match Results

BYU 3, Utah 4

Doubles Results

1. HILL, Sean/HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) def. BENKAIM, Russell/CORY, Randy (Utah) 6-3
2. PEARCE, John/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. WOOLLEY, Joe/WEVERINK, Egbert (Utah) 6-3
3. LITTLE, Dan/HANKULIYEV, Azat (Utah) vs. TULLIS, Sam/BALL, David (BYU) 5-3 (DNF)

Order of finish: (2, 1)

Singles Results

1. HILL, Sean (BYU) def. MICEVKSI, David (Utah) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5
2. LITTLE, Dan (Utah) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 6-2, 7-5
3. WEVERINK, Egbert (Utah) def. PEARCE, John (BYU) 7-6, 6-7, 7-5
4. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. CORY, Randy (Utah) 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
5. SIERRA, Santiago (Utah) def. GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) 7-6, 6-3
6. WOOLLEY, Joe (Utah) def. BALL, David (BYU) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: (2, 6, 5, 4, 1, 3)

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PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis hosts West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga Friday, is at No. 33 Utah Saturday before returning home to host UNLV Monday afternoon.

BYU (12-2, 2-0 WCC) faces conference opponent Gonzaga Friday, March 23, at 1 p.m. MST at the Indoor Tennis Courts. The Cougars are at No. 33 Utah Saturday, March 24, at 2 p.m. MST at the Eccles Tennis Center. After Saturday's match in Salt Lake City, BYU returns home to battle UNLV Monday, March 26, at 1 p.m. MST at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

The Cougars are coming off a big weekend in Indian Wells, California competing in the BNP Open Collegiate Tennis Challenge presented by Oracle. After dropping its first match in a close defeat against Tulsa, BYU bounced back and earned a 4-1 victory over SMU.

Freshman Ben Gajardo is undefeated (12-0) in No. 5 singles and teammate Sam Tullis is on a 6-0 winning streak for singles at the No. 4 spot. Doubles duo Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu remain undefeated in No. 1 doubles (8-0).

Gonzaga
The Zags (7-4, 0-1 WCC) are also coming off a 1-1 split. Gonzaga fell to UC Irvine but returned home and beat Yale 5-2. The Zags opened conference play last month against Portland with a 4-0 loss. BYU has defeated Gonzaga the last two years with the same 4-0 score.

No. 33 Utah
The Utes (16-2) had a bye last week but earned a  4-3 win over UNLV the previous week. BYU’s Hill defeated No. 1 seed Dan Little of Utah in the ITA Mountain Regional tournament in October in the Round of 16. Last year, the Utes beat the Cougars 4-2 and are tied in the all-time series 3-3.

UNLV
The Rebels (8-5) defeated Marquette 5-2 last weekend. No. 89 Alexandr Cozbinov plays in the No. 1 singles slot for UNLV. He is 9-2 this season and had a big win over Martin Redlicki from No. 7 UCLA. The Cougars lost to the Rebels 4-1 last year but won the three previous meetings.

Admission to the home matches is free to the public and pizza will be provided for the fans. Links to live stats and a video stream are can be found on the men’s schedule page.

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Fans can keep up with the latest on Cougar tennis by following us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/byumenstennis), Twitter (@BYU_Mens_Tennis) and Instagram (@byumtennis).