No. 52 BYU Falls to No. 7 Pepperdine

No. 52 BYU men’s tennis gave No. 7 Pepperdine all it could handle, but fell 6-1, Saturday.

The Cougars (14-8, 4-3) looked for the early upset as the No. 1 doubles duo of Georgy Batrakov and Patrick Kawka beat Pepperdine’s A. Llampart/F. Tearney, 8-3.

The visiting Waves No. 2 doubles team of S. Faselow and J. Turner tied up doubles at 1-1 with their 8-6 victory over BYU’s Francis Sargeant and Spencer Smith. Sargeant and Smith were down 5-4 but tied up the match at five and six all before losing. 

With the doubles point in the hands of the No. 3 duos, both teams battled tough with the Cougars tying up the score at 6-6 after being down 4-2. Keaton Cullimore and Michael Eraso eventually lost 8-6.

“We were in a great position at two and three in doubles after Georgy’s and Patrick’s win, but just couldn’t get it done,” said BYU men’s tennis coach Brad Pearce. “We bounced back, fought hard on every court, at every position and we competed with a great team.”

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The visiting Waves were up 2-0 before Batrakov gave the Cougars hope with his win at No. 2 singles to bring the match score to 2-1. Despite battling hard on the remaining singles matches, BYU could not pick up any other singles points.

At No. 3 singles, the Cougars’ Kawka tied his match at 1-1 but fell in the third set 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. In similar fashion, Eraso, playing at the No. 6 singles spot, won the first set 6-1, Pepperdine tied it up in the second and eventually won in the third set 1-6, 7-6(3), 10-7. Freshman Cullimore battled through three sets as well at No. 4 singles before falling 6-2, 5-7, 10-7.

At Saturday’s match, BYU recognized its two graduating seniors and co-captains, Batakov and Eraso.

The Cougars now prepare to compete in their first ever West Coast Conference Tennis Championship beginning Wed., April 25 in San Diego. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Championships.

No. 52 BYU-1; No. 7 Pepperdine-6

Singles:
1.     #9 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-3, 6-3
2.    #74  Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. #20 Finn Tearney (PEP) 6-2, 4-2, (match retired due to player injury)
3.     Alex Llompart (PEP) def. #97 Patrick Kawka (BYU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
4.     #95 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 6-2, 5-7, 10-7
5.     Hugh Clarke (PEP) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
6.     Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Michael Eraso (BYU) 1-6, 7-6 (3), 10-7
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 6, 4

Doubles:
1.     G. Batrakov/P. Kawka (BYU) def. #6 A. Llompart/F. Tearney (PEP) 8-3
2.     S. Fanselow/F. Tearney (PEP) def. F. Sargeant/S. Smith (BYU) 8-6
3.     D. Sofaer/H. Clarke (PEP) def. K. Cullimore/M. Eraso (BYU) 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3,