Cougars handed first conference loss

LOS ANGELES – BYU men’s tennis was handed its first West Coast Conference loss of the season Friday at Loyola Marymount, losing 4-3.

The Cougars (9-12, 3-1) fell behind early after losing the doubles point despite winning at No. 1 doubles. The duo of Jacob Sullivan and Andrey Goryachkov was first off the court with a 6-2 victory in the No. 1 slot. However, the Lions (9-8, 1-4) won the next two matchups to take the point.

LMU’s Cristobal Rivera kept up the momentum heading into singles with a straight set victory over Sullivan 6-4, 6-2 to give the Lions the 2-0 lead in the match. Senior Francis Sargeant got BYU on the board at No. 1 singles, beating Charles Boyce 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 and Goryachkov evened the score from No. 3 singles with a win over Felix Van Kann 6-4, 6-3.

At No. 2 singles, freshman Shane Monroe fell in a third-set tiebreaker 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) to Errol Smith, giving LMU the 3-2 lead. Cougar sophomore Aidan Carrazedo kept BYU in the match with a win at No. 6 singles, beating Luke Bohuslov 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). The Lions wrapped up the match at No. 5 singles where Joat Farrah outplayed Jeremy Bourgeois to a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory.

The Cougars will face No. 49 Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday at 1 p.m. PDT.