SAN FRANCISCO – Sophomore Jacob Sullivan earned the lone point for BYU men’s tennis Friday night as they fell to No. 39 Stanford 6-1 at Bay Club San Francisco Tennis.

“Our preparation was great, our mentality going into the match was great and our team spirit was great. We just got beat by a better team tonight,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “Kudos to Jacob Sullivan on his match win. He became a better player by finishing strong.”

The match was originally scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. but due to inclement weather was moved indoors to Bay Club Tennis Friday night at 10 p.m. PST.

Once the match got going, the Cardinal jumped out to a quick lead after capturing the doubles point. Jeremy Bourgeois and Robin Pfister fell first to Maciek Romanowicz and Tom Fawcett 6-1. Stanford clinched the point when Yale Goldberg and David Wilczynski beat David Ball and Jacob Sullivan 6-2. Francis Sargeant and Andrey Goryachkov were also on the court but their matchup was called when the doubles point was won.

In singles play, Sullivan was the only Cougar to come away with a win. Playing at No. 5 singles, he outplayed Stanford’s Goldberg 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-6). Sargeant was back at No. 1 singles but faced off against Fawcett, who is ranked No. 25 nationally, and came up short, losing 6-1, 6-1. Freshman Shane Monroe lost at No. 2 singles to John Morissey 6-3, 6-4.

Goryachkov and Juan Canales, playing at No. 3 and 6 respectively, both also lost in straight sets to Wilcynzki (6-0, 6-1) and Robert Stineman (6-2, 6-1). Ball, who grew up in Palo Alto, was the only other Cougar to come close to grabbing a point, however he fell in a third set tiebreaker 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-5) to Nolan Paige.

“We need to learn from this experience and what they did well from top to bottom to work harder to get better ourselves,” Pearce said. “This match will help us get better. I am proud of my team tonight and have no doubt the commitment is there to improve.”

BYU returns home to face Denver and Iowa next weekend. The Cougars will host Denver on Friday night at 5:30 p.m. MST and Iowa will visit BYU Saturday at 1 p.m. MST. Live stats and streaming video is available through the BYU schedule page.

No. 39 Stanford 6, BYU 1

DOUBLES
1) Morrissey/Stineman (STAN) vs. Goryachkov/Sargeant (BYU) abandoned
2) Fawcett/Maciek Romanowicz (STAN) d. Jeremy Bourgeois/Robin Pfister (BYU) 6-1
3) Goldberg/Wilczynski (STAN) d. Ball/Sullivan (BYU) 6-2
Order of Finish: 2, 3

SINGLES
1) No. 25 Tom Fawcett (STAN) d. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
2 John Morrissey (STAN) d. Shane Monroe (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
3 David Wilczynski (STAN) d. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) 6-0, 6-1
4) Nolan Paige (STAN) d. David Ball (BYU) 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (5)
5) Jacob Sullivan (BYU) d. Yale Goldberg (STAN) 4-6, 7-6 (6), 1-0 (6)
6 Robert Stineman (STAN) d. Juan Canales (BYU) 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 3, 6, 1, 2, 4, 5

 PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis (6-2, 0-0) looks to build on a four-match winning streak with two matches this week against Saint Mary’s and at No. 36 Stanford.

“We are really looking forward to this week’s matches,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “What we accomplished in our triple-header last week will give us a lot of momentum moving forward into the two upcoming contests.”

Last Friday, the Cougars played in the program’s first ever triple-header and did not disappoint. BYU didn’t drop a point winning all three matches 7-0.  Freshman Shane Monroe led the squad on Friday, winning all three of his singles matches in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 dominating victory against Nebraska–Omaha. Jeremy Bourgeois also won all three of his singles matches playing at No. 2 singles.

“Conference play is always competitive and tough,” Pearce said. “Our guys are excited for conference play to start at home this week.”

BYU remains at home for its first match of West Coast Conference play, against Saint Mary’s, Wednesday, February 4 at 5:30 p.m. MST. The Gaels (1-2, 0-0) come to Provo after a 1-6 win over Sonoma State, their first win of the season. The matchup will be the league season opener for both teams. Live stats and video is available for the match on the men’s schedule page.

The Cougars then hit the road for a weekend matchup at No. 36 Stanford (1-2) Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. PST. The Cardinal is also coming off of their first win of the season over UNLV. Stanford recently lost 2-4 at No. 13 Florida. A live stream will be available on Stanford’s schedule page.

“It is always a great opportunity to play a top team in the nation like Stanford,” Pearce said. “We are eager to see how we measure up.”

After their match against Stanford, the Cougars will return home for two matches on February 13 and 14 against Denver and Iowa, respectively.