BYU men's tennis drops tough 4-3 match to New Mexico

Box Score

PROVO, Utah – After enduring five three-set matches and several tie breakers, BYU men’s tennis dropped a tough 4-3 match to New Mexico Friday night at the BYU indoor tennis courts.

“I have to give credit to New Mexico," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "It was a hard-fought, great collegiate match. Unfortunately this one didn’t go our way. We got the doubles point, which was a real positive to start the match. On the flip side, we didn’t get it done in third sets.”

The Cougars (6-5, 0-0 WCC) earned an early edge in doubles play as Keaton Cullimore and John Pearce cruised over Bart Van Leijsen and Dominic West, 6-2. Aidan Carrazedo and Sam Tullis followed with a 6-1 victory at third doubles over Rodolfo Jauregui and Sean Baklini.

Senior Jacob Sullivan battled against Ricky Hernandez-Tong to pull out a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory before New Mexico (2-5, 0-0 MWC) fought back to win three consecutive three-set matches. Matthew Pearce and Cullimore fell at fourth and first singles, respectively, while Jeremy Bourgeois dropped his match at the No. 3 slot.

With BYU falling behind, junior John Pearce bested Lawrence Perrin 6-4, 6-4 to come back and tie the match for the Cougars. Tullis then rallied to defeat Jorge Escutia at No. 6 singles but fell in a third-set tie break 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-6(4).

BYU opens conference play against San Francisco Saturday, Feb. 18, at 5:30 p.m. MST. Live stats and a video stream can be found on the men’s tennis schedule page. 

Results

New Mexico 4, BYU Men's Tennis 3

Singles competition

1. VAN LEIJSEN, Bart (NM) def. CULLIMORE, Keaton (BYU) 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3)
2. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU) def. HERNANDEZ-TONG,Ricky (NM) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. JAUREGUI, Rodolfo (NM) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-0)
4. WEST, Dominic (NM) def. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
5. PEARCE, John (BYU) def. PERRIN, Lawrence (NM) 6-4, 6-4
6. ESCUTIA, Jorge (NM) def. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)

Doubles competition

1. SULLIVAN, Jacob/BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) vs. HERNANDEZ-TONG,Ricky/PERRIN, Lawrence (NM) 3-4, unfinished
2. CULLIMORE, Keaton/PEARCE, John (BYU) def. VAN LEIJSEN, Bart/WEST, Dominic (NM) 6-2
3. CARRAZEDO, Aidan/TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. JAUREGUI, Rodolfo/BAKLINI, Sean (NM) 6-1

Match Notes: Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (2,4,1,3,5,6)