Cougars fall to Iowa in thriller

PROVO, Utah – Aidan Carrazedo, Andrey Goryachkov and Juan Canales had big days for BYU men’s tennis but the Cougars fell in a close match to Iowa 4-3 Saturday in Provo.

“Today was a tough loss, but I have to give credit to our guys for battling,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We played eight guys tonight and I thought their preparation was good. Aidan stepped up to help secure the doubles point and Andrey and Juan both played huge for us in singles.”

The Cougars got on the board first by securing the doubles point. Goryachkov and Jacob Sullivan were the first duo off the court after beating Matt Hagan and Dominic Patrick of Iowa 6-3. Carrazedo and Robin Pfister followed quickly with another 6-3 victory over Lefteris Theodorou and Stieg Martens.

Goryachkov was first off the court again in singles, giving BYU a 2-0 lead by beating Martens 6-1, 6-2. Iowa stormed back to take the next three matches and seize a 3-2 lead in the match. David Ball fell to Silverstein 6-2, 6-4, Shane Monroe lost in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-4) to Patrick and Francis Sargeant also dropped his match in three sets against Theodorou (6-3, 5-7, 6-3).

Canales evened the score for the Cougars at three with a dominating 6-4, 6-2 win over Nils Hallestrand but the match came down to the final matchup of the day between Iowa’s Jake Jacoby and Sullivan. Silverstein won a back-and-forth, three-set thriller  6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

“We didn’t lose because of lack of desire or will,” Pearce said. “We just need to get better. We will work hard and these kinds of matches will begin to go our way.”

BYU will be back in action Friday, February 27, and Saturday, February 28, in Boise, Idaho against the University of Pennsylvania and Boise State, respectively.

Brigham Young 3, University of Iowa 4

Singles competition

1. Lefteris Theodorou (IOWA) def. SARGEANT, Francis (BYU-M) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

2. Dominic Patrick (IOWA) def. MONROE, Shane (BYU-M) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

3. GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU-M) def. Stieg Martens (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2

4. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) def. BALL, David (BYU-M) 6-2, 6-4

5. Jake Jacoby (IOWA) def. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU-M) 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4

6. CANALES, Juan (BYU-M) def. Nils Hallestr (IOWA) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles

1. SULLIVAN, Jacob/GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU-M) def. Matt Hagan/Dominic Patrick (IOWA) 6-3

2. PFISTER, Robin/CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU-M) def. Lefteris Theodorou/Stieg Martens (IOWA) 6-3

3. Jake Jacoby/Josh Silverstein (IOWA) vs. SARGEANT, Francis/BALL, David (BYU-M) no result