PROVO, Utah – Senior John Pearce led BYU men’s tennis to a 4-3 victory over UNLV Monday afternoon at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

"UNLV gave us a tough battle today – they have some very good players and are well-coached," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "We feel fortunate to have gotten the win today. I cannot say enough about the heart of these guys. With Gonzaga on Friday and a tough rivalry loss on Saturday takes so much out of you physically, emotionally and mentally, to come out a beat a good team like this today is super-human. It was important for us to get the bitter taste out of our mouth and move forward this next week to a big WCC match with a win behind us. I love these guys and this team." 

The Cougars (14-3) came out ready to play after a heartbreaking loss to Utah and claimed the doubles point over the Rebels (9-7). Teammates Matthew Pearce and Jacob Tullis secured a 6-4 win in No. 3 doubles against Jordan Sauer and Ruben Alberts, while BYU duo J. Pearce and Ben Gajardo earned a 7-6 win over Clayton Alenik and Eric Samuelsson in the No. 2 slot.

Up 1-0, BYU won the first two finishes in singles. J. Pearce defeated Alberts 6-4, 6-4 in the No. 3 slot, after making a comeback in the second set. In No. 4 singles, Sam Tullis earned a 7-6, 6-3 win against Samuelsson to bump the Cougars up 3-0 over the Rebels.

UNLV claimed wins in No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Alexandr Cozbinov defeated Sean Hill 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, while Courtney Lock earned a victory over Jeffrey Hsu 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.

BYU secured its 4-3 match win with Gajardo ousting Richard Solberg 6-3, 6-3 in No. 5 singles. Alenik defeated M. Pearce 2-6, 7-6, 10-6 to give the Rebels their third singles win. 

The Cougars head to California this week to play UC Irvine Friday, Mar. 30, at 10 a.m. PST at the Tennis Stadium. The Cougars then take on West Coast Conference opponent San Diego on Saturday, March 31, at 2 p.m. PST at the USD West Tennis Courts.

Match Results

BYU 4, UNLV 2

Doubles Results

1. HILL, Sean/HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) vs. LOCK, Courtney/COZBINOV, Alexandr (UNLV) 6-5 (DNF)
2. PEARCE, John/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. ALENIK, Clayton/SAMUELSSON, Eric (UNLV) 7-6
3. PEARCE, Matthew/TULLIS, Jacob (BYU) def. SAUER, Jordan/ALBERTS, Ruben (UNLV) 6-4

Order of finish: (3, 2)

Singles Results

1. COZBINOV, Alexandr (UNLV) def. HILL, Sean (BYU) 7-6, 4-6, 6-2
2. LOCK, Courtney (UNLV) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 1-6, 6-2, 6-1
3. PEARCE, John (BYU) def. ALBERTS, Ruben (UNLV) 6-4, 6-4
4. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. SAMUELSSON, Eric (UNLV) 7-6, 6-3
5. GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. SOLBERG, Richard (UNLV) 6-3, 6-3
6. ALENIK, Clayton (UNLV) def. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) 2-6, 7-6, 10-6

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

Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media
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).

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.

Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media
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).