ORLANDO, Fla. — No. 68 BYU men's tennis played a hard-fought match but fell 4-3 to No. 66 UNC-Wilmington at the USTA National Campus Monday. 

"We fought down to the last man," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "We have a lot to be proud of between our two matches. We'll learn from the lessons that were taught at every position in both matches and move forward from here looking through the windshield rather than the rearview mirror."

BYU (3-1) came out strong in doubles to claim the point over UNC-Wilmington (1-1) with wins in No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Duo Matthew Pearce and Mateo Vereau earned a 6-2  win over Agustin Savarino and Daniel Groom. Teammates Sam Tullis and Ben Gajardo defeated Bruno Caula and Michael Morphy 6-3 to move the Cougars 1-0 into singles play. 

The No. 1 doubles match between BYU's Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu and UNC-Wilmington's Michael Copeland and Cole Groetsch was suspended at 4-3.

Moving into singles, Hill finish first in No. 1 singles, handily defeating Agustin Savarino 6-0, 6-2.

The Hawks fought back and earned their first point as Vereau fell to Austin Hussey 6-1, 6-4 in No. 3 singles. In the No. 6 spot, Pearce lost to Davide Innocenti 6-3, 6-3, tying the dual-match at 2-2. 

UNC-Wilmington earned its third point and a 3-2 advantage as Copeland defeated Tullis 6-4, 6-2 in No. 4 singles.

The Cougars battled back to tie the match at 3-3 when Gajardo topped Morphy 6-0, 2-6, 6-3 in the No. 5 singles spot.

The match victory was decided in the No. 2 singles spot. Hsu and Groom battled back and forth until Groom clinched the win with 5-7, 6-0, 6-4 win.

BYU battles No. 1 Wake Forest Friday, Jan. 25, at 5 p.m. EDT as it competes in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend. The next day the Cougars play the winner of the match between No. 26 Memphis/No. 37 Old Dominion. That match will be played at either 2 p.m. or  5 p.m. EDT depending on who wins.

Match Results

BYU 3, UNCW 4

Doubles Results

1. HILL, Sean/HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) vs. COPELAND, Michael/GROETSCH, Cole (NCW) 4-3 (DNF)
2. TULLIS, Sam/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. CAULA, Bruno/MORPHY, Michael (NCW) 6-3
3. VEREAU, Mateo/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. SAVARINO, Agustin/GROOM, Daniel (NCW) 6-2

Order of finish: (3, 2)

Singles Results

1. HILL, Sean (BYU) def. SAVARINO, Agustin (NCW) 6-0, 6-2
2. GROOM, Daniel (NCW) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 5-7, 6-0, 6-4
3. HUSSEY, Austin (NCW) def. VEREAU, Mateo (BYU 6-1, 6-4
4. COPELAND, Michael (NCW) def. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 6-4, 6-2
5. GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. MORPHY, Michael (NCW) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3
6. INNOCENTI, Davide (NCW) def. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) 6-3, 6-3

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

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PROVO, Utah – BYU men's tennis hits the road to play No. 61 Florida Atlantic and No. 66 UNC-Wilmington at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, Saturday and Monday.

The Cougars (2-0) face Florida Atlantic (2-1) on Saturday, Jan. 19, at 3 p.m. EST and UNC-Wilmington on Monday, Jan. 21, at 11 a.m. EST.

BYU
BYU is coming off back-to-back wins at home against in-state foes, Weber State and Utah. The Cougars beat the Wildcats 6-1 and the Utes 4-0.

No. 61 Florida Atlantic
The Owls (2-1) picked up wins over Nebraska and North Florida and lost to No. 24 Florida State so far this year.

No. 66 UNC-Wilmington
The Hawks (0-0) open their season with the match against Florida Atlantic on Saturday. With eight returning players, UNC-Wilmington has a deep lineup. The last Hawk-Cougar matchup was in 2018 when BYU defeated UNC-Wilmington 5-2.

Links to live stats are available on the men's schedule page. Results will be updated following the matches.

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).