PROVO, Utah – Aidan Carrazedo, Andrey Goryachkov and Juan Canales had big days for BYU men’s tennis but the Cougars fell in a close match to Iowa 4-3 Saturday in Provo.

“Today was a tough loss, but I have to give credit to our guys for battling,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We played eight guys tonight and I thought their preparation was good. Aidan stepped up to help secure the doubles point and Andrey and Juan both played huge for us in singles.”

The Cougars got on the board first by securing the doubles point. Goryachkov and Jacob Sullivan were the first duo off the court after beating Matt Hagan and Dominic Patrick of Iowa 6-3. Carrazedo and Robin Pfister followed quickly with another 6-3 victory over Lefteris Theodorou and Stieg Martens.

Goryachkov was first off the court again in singles, giving BYU a 2-0 lead by beating Martens 6-1, 6-2. Iowa stormed back to take the next three matches and seize a 3-2 lead in the match. David Ball fell to Silverstein 6-2, 6-4, Shane Monroe lost in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-4) to Patrick and Francis Sargeant also dropped his match in three sets against Theodorou (6-3, 5-7, 6-3).

Canales evened the score for the Cougars at three with a dominating 6-4, 6-2 win over Nils Hallestrand but the match came down to the final matchup of the day between Iowa’s Jake Jacoby and Sullivan. Silverstein won a back-and-forth, three-set thriller  6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

“We didn’t lose because of lack of desire or will,” Pearce said. “We just need to get better. We will work hard and these kinds of matches will begin to go our way.”

BYU will be back in action Friday, February 27, and Saturday, February 28, in Boise, Idaho against the University of Pennsylvania and Boise State, respectively.

Brigham Young 3, University of Iowa 4

Singles competition

1. Lefteris Theodorou (IOWA) def. SARGEANT, Francis (BYU-M) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3

2. Dominic Patrick (IOWA) def. MONROE, Shane (BYU-M) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

3. GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU-M) def. Stieg Martens (IOWA) 6-1, 6-2

4. Josh Silverstein (IOWA) def. BALL, David (BYU-M) 6-2, 6-4

5. Jake Jacoby (IOWA) def. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU-M) 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-4

6. CANALES, Juan (BYU-M) def. Nils Hallestr (IOWA) 6-4, 6-2

Doubles

1. SULLIVAN, Jacob/GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU-M) def. Matt Hagan/Dominic Patrick (IOWA) 6-3

2. PFISTER, Robin/CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU-M) def. Lefteris Theodorou/Stieg Martens (IOWA) 6-3

3. Jake Jacoby/Josh Silverstein (IOWA) vs. SARGEANT, Francis/BALL, David (BYU-M) no result

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis (7-3, 1-0) is set to host No. 64 University of Denver (3-4) and the University of Iowa (4-1) Friday and Saturday, respectively.

“We are expecting two tough matches this week in Denver and Iowa,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We will need to perform at a very high level, which we are capable of, to have success. I’m looking forward to this weekend to see where we’re at as a team.”

The Cougars return home from a 6-1 road loss to No. 39 Stanford last Friday night, which is the only defeat the team has suffered in the last six matches. Sophomore Jacob Sullivan was the only BYU player last week to register a point at Stanford, winning his singles matchup against Yale Goldberg 4-6, 7-6, 1-0 (10-6).

Denver comes to Provo on a two-match losing streak, falling to No. 57 Princeton and Nebraska at home. Henry Craig, Denver’s No. 1 singles, is ranked No. 64 nationally in singles and teams up with Alex Gasson to be ranked as the No. 23 doubles duo in the nation.

Iowa rides a two-match winning streak into Provo having beaten Yale and Marquette last week. Matt Hagen leads the Hawkeyes as the No. 98-ranked singles player in the country and teams up Dominic Patrick as the No. 57 doubles duo in the country.

Friday’s match against Denver will begin at 5:30 p.m. in the indoor tennis courts and Saturday’s matchup with Iowa will begin at 1:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available through the BYU schedule page.