PORTLAND – The longest road trip since 2006 for BYU men’s tennis came to a close Saturday afternoon with a 4-0 loss to Portland. The Cougars (3-10, 1-2 WCC) had several close singles matches but ultimately fell short in each.

FULL RESULTS

Doubles

1. Eleftherios Neos/Sema Pankin (POR) def. Wally Thayne/Zach Fuchs (BYU) 6-2
2. Jack Barnett/Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) vs. Nicolas Ocana/Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 2-5, unf.
3. Issa Yoshida/Cade Fernando (POR) def. Brigham Andrus/Redd Owen (BYU) 6-1

Order of finish: 3, 1

The Pilots controlled doubles from the jump, taking an early 3-1 lead at No. 3 doubles. Andrus and Owen almost answered with a break of their own, but Yoshida and Fernando held on to win that game and another later in the match on deuce points on their way to a 6-1 victory.

No. 1 doubles also went Portland’s way with a 3-0 lead that held strong throughout the match. Thayne and Fuchs were down 5-2 later in the contest, with Neos and Pankin winning a game while receiving to win the match 6-2 and lock up the doubles point.

The remaining match on the No. 2 court went unfinished. Barnett and Jakovljevic were broken twice, with both coming on a deuce point, to trail 5-2.

Singles

1. Sema Pankin (POR) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5
2. Eleftherios Neos (POR) def. Wally Thayne (BYU) 7-5, 6-4
3. Nicolas Ocana (POR) def. Zach Fuchs (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
4. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) vs. Nikolas Tvedt (POR) 2-5, unf.
5. Redd Owen (BYU) vs. Maxim Groysman (POR) 2-3, unf.
6. Brigham Andrus (BYU) vs. Issa Yoshida (POR) 0-0, unf.

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles action saw several tight matches including at No. 3 singles where Fuchs lost both sets on a one break margin. Ocana went up 3-1 in set one and eventually won 6-4. In the second Fuchs was tied 3-all before only being broken on a deuce point. That game ended up being the difference as Portland once again took the set 6-4.

The Pilots took a 3-0 lead in the dual match at No. 2 singles. Set one was locked at 5-5 before Neos narrowly took two games to win 7-5. Set two ended up being close as well, although Neos had two-straight breaks to lead 5-2. Thayne did not go down easily, breaking back and holding his serve to only trail 5-4. He then survived one match point but was unable to survive another on deuce point, giving Neos a 6-4 set win.

No. 1 singles went to three sets but was ultimately won by Portland to secure the dual match. Pankin took set one by a narrow 6-4 score but set two was all Barnett. A 1-1 tie gave way to five-straight games for Barnett, giving him a 6-1 win. Set three was much closer. Barnett took the lead after a break point put him up 3-2, but Pankin grabbed a break of his own to earn a 3-3 tie.

Pankin was later up 5-4 with Barnett serving. Portland had two match points but BYU won them both, with Barnett landing an ace on the second to extend the match. He nearly went ahead in the next game but lost on deuce point. The final game also went to 40-all, with Pankin victorious again to take the set 7-5.

The remaining matches went unfinished. Jakovljevic fell behind 5-2 in his first set at No. 4 singles, while neither side had an advantage at No. 5. Owen was down 3-2 but set to serve when the match was decided. Andrus’ match on the No. 6 court never started.

BYU returns home for the first time in six weeks next Thursday, March 30, at 11:00 a.m. MDT against No. 16 Stanford.

SPOKANE, Wash. – The longest road trip since 2006 will come to a close this weekend for BYU men’s tennis after matches at Gonzaga and Portland. The two contests are the last of an eight match, six week stretch that also sees the Cougars (3-9, 1-0 WCC) return to West Coast Conference competition.

Friday’s match at Gonzaga’s Stevens Tennis Center begins at 3:00 p.m. PDT. Portland will then host BYU on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. PDT from the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center.

• Friday – Live Stream
• Friday – Live Scores
• Saturday – Live Stream
• Saturday – Live Scores

Media Guide

BYU Notes

• The Cougars are 1-0 in WCC after defeating Saint Mary’s 4-0 on February 18 in Provo.
• Zach Fuchs was a member of Gonzaga’s team for one year but never played with the Zags due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• This week’s WCC Doubles Team of the Week honor was given to BYU’s Brigham Andrus and Redd Owen after the duo went 2-0 last weekend. The Cougars are the only school to have three different teams earn the conference’s weekly doubles award.
• The eight-match road trip saw the team play in five states: Idaho, Texas, Utah, Oregon and Washington.

Gonzaga Notes

• The Bulldogs are 5-6 this season, including 3-0 at home. Their match versus BYU will be their WCC opener.
• Seven of the nine players on the roster are upperclassmen.
• Head coach D.J. Gurule is in his second season leading GU’s men’s team after previously coaching the women’s side for 17 years.

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 7-3
• Last Meeting: Gonzaga won 4-1 on March 25, 2022, in Provo

Portland Notes

• The Pilots are 6-6 this season, including 5-1 at home. They are 0-1 in WCC play after losing to San Diego on February 17.
• Senior Sema Pankin is 7-5 at No. 1 singles and has two wins over nationally ranked opponents.
• Head coach Aaron Gross is in his 25th season.

Series Information

• Series Record: BYU leads 12-2
• Last Meeting: BYU won 4-2 on March 19, 2022, in Provo