ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- The BYU men's tennis team let momentum get away as it fell 6-1 to No. 56 New Mexico at the Linda Estes Tennis Complex on Friday.

 

The Cougars drop to 6-8 on the season with the loss to the Lobos (14-4).

 

"New Mexico played a good match," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "Losing the doubles point in a tiebreaker put us in an uphill climb starting singles. We'll be looking to perform better against No. 31 Texas Tech."

 

BYU came out with energy in doubles, but New Mexico squeezed out the point.

 

Third doubles team Jeremy Bourgeois and Sterling Galli fell to their opponents 8-4 in the first finish, but the Cougars evened the count with Andrey Goryachkov and Robin Pfister edging out James Hignett and Samir Iftikhar, 8-6, in first doubles.

 

The point came down to second doubles with Francis Sargeant and Matthew Pearce, but they fell in tiebreakers to Hayden Sabatka and Andrew Van Der Vyver, 8-7.

 

Highlighting singles play for BYU was freshman Jacob Sullivan. At the No. 6 singles slot, he secured a two-set win, 7-5, 6-4, to put the Cougars on the  board. 

 

Junior captain Sargeant fell at first singles to Iftikhar for only his second loss in 2014 dual matches. The 114th-ranked player took the first set before losing the next two, the final in a tiebreaker, 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (2).

 

The Cougars will be back in action tomorrow against No. 31 Texas Tech at 11 a.m. MST at the Estes Tennis Complex.

 

Result: UNM def. BYU, 6-1

 

Doubles Results:

Goryachkov/Pfister (BYU) def. Hignett/Iftikhar (UNM), 8-6

Sabatka/Van Der Vyver (UNM) def. Sargeant/Pearce (BYU), 8-7

Jauregui/McDaniels (UNM) def. Bourgeois/Galli (BYU), 8-4

Order of Finish: (3, 1, 2)

 

Singles Results:

Iftikhar (UNM) def. Sargeant (BYU), 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (2)

Sabatka (UNM) def. Goryachkov (BYU), 6-2, 6-4

Jauregui (UNM) def. Bourgeois (BYU), 7-6, 6-1

Van Der Vyver (UNM) def. Pfister (BYU), 6-0, 6-4

Hignett (UNM) def. Pearce (BYU), 7-6, 6-2

Sullivan (BYU) def. McDaniels (UNM), 7-5, 6-4

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

PROVO, Utah -- The BYU men’s tennis team is gearing up for matches against ranked opponents No. 56 New Mexico Friday at 1 p.m. MST and No. 41 Texas Tech Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Linda Estes Tennis Center in Albuquerque, N.M.

 

Coming off a confidence-building 7-0 sweep of Idaho last weekend, the Cougars (6-7) look to finish strong in these two matches before opening up West Coast Conference play.

 

“We have a great rivalry with New Mexico as a regional competitor,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We call it a friendly rivalry because I think we respect each other’s programs and have a great relationship with their coaching staff. It’s a good opportunity for us, they’re always a good team.”

 

The Cougars are 33-20 all-time against the former Mountain West Conference opponent and current regional foe Lobos, who enter the match 13-4 on the season.

Against the Red Raiders, BYU is 2-4 all-time with the last meeting in 2010 resulting in a 4-1 loss.

 

“Texas Tech is always a good team year to year,” coach Pearce said. “We think it’s a great trip, a great opportunity for us at this stage. I think we’re becoming a little more dangerous.”

 

In the match against Idaho, five out of the seven BYU players who competed were freshmen while five of six singles matches were won in two sets.

 

After the two matches this weekend, BYU travels to California for WCC play against Pacific and Saint Mary’s, March 21 and March 22, respectively.