Cougars Fall to Aggies, 4-3

LOGAN, Utah — After nearly two weeks off, BYU men's tennis suffered a tough 4-3 loss to in-state rival Utah State at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club on Saturday. 

“Utah State has a nice team, we congratulate them on their win,” BYU head coach Dave Porter said. “We did not play the way we're capable of, or the way we need to in order to be the kind of team we're capable of. We hope to get to work this week. We have Montana on Friday and our first conference match on Saturday, and we'll be ready.”

Mateo Vereau Melendez and Dominik Jakovljevic got things started for the Cougars with a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles against Jack Ninteman and Roko Savin. BYU held leads on the two remaining courts, but ended up losing the doubles point to the Aggies after a 7-5 loss at No. 1 doubles and a 6-4 loss at No. 3 doubles.

In singles play, the Cougars picked up two quick wins to take the lead. At the No. 2 slot, Ben Gajardo beat Felipe Acosta, 6-3, 6-4. Sean Hill followed with a 6-1, 6-3, No. 1 singles win over Sergiu Bucur. Utah State followed with a win at No. 3 singles as Souf El Mesbahi defeated Vereau Melendez, 6-4, 6-3, to tie the match at 2-2. 

At No. 4 singles, Sam Tullis got down early, but forced a third set, eventually winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, to give BYU a 3-2 match lead. The Aggies tied it up once again when Javier Ruiz beat Jakovljevic at No. 5 singles, 6-2, 6-4, leaving the match in the hands of the outcome at No. 6 singles. Alex Lin put up a good fight, but eventually fell to Arvid Hjalte, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), giving Utah State the victory.

The Cougars will be back at home next week for two weekend matches. BYU will first face Montana on Friday, Mar. 5, at 2 p.m. MST and will then begin West Coast Conference play, hosting Santa Clara on Saturday, Mar. 6, at 11 a.m. MST. Both matches will be held at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts. The matches will be streamed live and live stats will also be available. 

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 3 Utah State 4 

Doubles Competition

1. Felipe Acosta/Javier Ruiz (USU) def. Ben Gajardo/Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU), 7-5

2. Mateo Vereau Melendez/Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Jack Ninteman/Roko Savin (USU), 6-4

3. Sergiu Bucur/Souf El Mesbahi (USU) def. Sean Hill/Sam Tullis (BYU), 6-4

Order of finish: (2, 3, 1)

Singles Competition

1. Sean Hill (BYU) def. Sergiu Bucur (USU), 6-1, 6-3

2. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Felipe Acosta (USU), 6-3, 6-4

3. Souf El Mesbahi (USU) def. Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU), 4-6, 3-6

4. Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Roko Savin (USU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

5. Javier Ruiz (USU) def. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU), 2-6, 4-6

6. Arvid Hjalte (USU) def. Alex Lin (BYU), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2)

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