No. 49 BYU narrowly falls to No. 36 Vanderbilt, 4-3

MALIBU, Calif. – Plagued by windy conditions, the No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team narrowly fell to No. 36 Vanderbilt, 4-3, Friday in Malibu, Calif., as part of the ITA Kick-off Weekend.

The Cougars (1-3) swept the Commodores (2-0) in doubles, earning a point for BYU. Playing at the No. 1 position, senior Georgy Batrakov and sophomore Patrick Kawka earned the first BYU doubles victory when they took down Carlie Jones and Jeff Offerdahl, 8-6.

Despite playing in their first match together, freshmen Keaton Cullimore and Dean Ormsby followed suite with an 8-5 win over Gonzales Austin and Anton Kovrigin at the No. 3 position.

Senior Spencer Smith and freshman Francis Sargeant had their opponents Joe Dorn and Alex DiValerio tied (7-7) when the match was called off because BYU had already secured the doubles point with two wins.

No. 67 Cullimore, playing at the No. 4 position, was the first off the court for the Cougars in singles, defeating Kovrigin 6-0, 7-5.

No. 106 Kawka lost a tough set to Dorn at the No. 3 position. Kawka pushed Dorn to a second set tiebreaker and was up 5-0 before Dorn came back to take the victory, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

Sargeant fought hard in a three-set thriller against Offerdahl but ultimately fell 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.

No. 87 Charlie Jones upset No. 43 Batrakov at the No. 1 position, 6-4, 6-4.

Due to Vanderbilt reaching four points and therefore winning the match, DiValerio retired, giving Ormsby a 6-3, 5-7, 2-3 victory and BYU its third point.

BYU will face No. 52 Cal Poly (0-3) in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-off Weekend Saturday at 10 a.m. PST. Cal Poly is coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 12 Pepperdine Friday.

Cal Poly has one ranked player in No. 22 Andre Dome. Dome defeated No. 13 Alex Musialek, No. 18 Andreas Mies and No. 26 Ignacio Taboada at the ITA All-American Championships in the fall. The Cougars own a 2-1 all-time record over the Mustangs.

BYU: 3
Vanderbilt: 4

Singles

1.  No. 87 Charlie Jones (VANDY) def. No. 43 Georgy Batrakov (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Gonzales Austin (VANDY) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Joe Dorn (VANDY) def. No. 106 Patrick Kawka (BYU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
4. No. 67 Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Anton Kovrigin (VANDY) 6-0, 7-5
5. Jeff Offerdahl (VANDY) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Dean Ormsby (BYU) def. Alex DiValerio (VANDY) 6-3, 5-7, 2-3, retired

Doubles

1. Georgy Batrakov/Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Charlie Jones/Jeff Offerdahl (VANDY) 8-6
2. Francis Sargeant/Spencer Smith (BYU) vs. Joe Dorn/Alex DiValerio (VANDY) 7-7, unfinished
3. Keaton Cullimore/Dean Ormsby (BYU) def. Gonzales Austin/Anton Kovrigin (VANDY) 8-5

Match Notes:

Vanderbilt 2-0; National ranking #36
BYU 1-3; National ranking #49
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,2,3,1,5)