PROVO, Utah – After defeating Denver on Friday, BYU men’s tennis picked up wins over regional opponents Montana State and NAU in a doubleheader on Saturday for a 3-0 weekend record at the BYU indoor tennis courts.

“Everybody on the roster got a win today and I was impressed with the team effort and grit,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “It was a tough weekend. Hats off to both Montana State and Northern Arizona, their players and coaching staff. I thought they fought hard. Our guys had to dig deep again today to get two wins.”

Sophomore Matthew Pearce clinched the match for BYU (5-3, 0-0 WCC) over Montana State (2-5, 1-0 Big Sky) while junior John Pearce clinched his second match of the weekend over NAU (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky).

Montana State Bobcats

In the first match of the day, the Cougars dominated doubles play with early victories at first and third doubles. Aidan Carrazedo and Scott Bohne, in his first match since a season-ending injury last year, downed Montana State’s Kasper Parlklo and Mateus Ceolin 6-0, while Jacob Sullivan and John Pearce teamed up for a 6-2 win over Rok Sitar and Alexander Flink.

The Bobcats turned up the momentum in singles as every match but one was forced to three sets. Sam Tullis struck first for BYU, topping Flink 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, followed by Montana State’s lone victory as Sitak defeated Keaton Cullimore 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

Aidan Carrazedo finished next with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) comeback win over Adrian Torrico at fourth singles before Matthew Pearce clinched the Cougars’ victory 7-6(3), 6-7(1), 6-4 against Kellen Bates at the No. 2 slot. Garret Vincent and Derek Vincent also recorded singles wins to seal BYU’s 6-1 victory over Montana State.

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks

NAU’s Lucas Taylor and Tim Handel logged a 6-4 win over Jeremy Bourgeois and Matthew Pearce before Sullivan and John Pearce notched their second doubles victory of the day on Court 1, defeating Ruben Montano and Sebastian Eguez 7-5. Cullimore and Tullis finished seconds later with a 7-5 win of their own to clinch the doubles point over Felix Schumann and Thomas Ficher.

The Cougars opened singles play with victories at first and third singles. Cullimore took down Handel in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, as Matthew Pearce regained control in the third set to beat Taylor 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Trailing 3-0, the Lumberjacks pushed for a comeback. Schumann pulled out a three-set win over Bourgeois and Eguez outlasted Sullivan in a third-set tiebreak. John Pearce then clinched the match 4-2 as he bested Montano 6-4, 6-1 at No. 5 singles.

BYU hosts Utah on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. MST at the indoor tennis courts before traveling to Idaho to take on Boise State on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 6 p.m. MST.

BYU 6 Montana State 1

Doubles Results

1. SULLIVAN, Jacob/PEARCE, John (BYU) def. SITAR, Rok/FLINK, Alexander (MSU) 6-2
2. CULLIMORE, Keaton/TULLIS, Sam (BYU) vs.  BATES, Kellen/TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) 4-3 (DNF)
3. CARRAZEDO, Aidan/BOHNE, Scott (BYU) def. PARLKLO, Kasper/CEOLIN, Mateus (MSU) 6-0

Order of finish: (3,1)

Singles Results

1. SITAR, Rok (MSU) def. CULLIMORE, Keaton (BYU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. BATES, Kellen (MSU) 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (1-7), 6-4
3. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. FLINK, Alexander (MSU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
4. CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU) def. TORRICO, Adrian (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
5. VINCENT, Garret (BYU) def. PARLKLO, Kasper (MSU) 7-6 (8-6), 6-3
6. VINCENT, Derek (BYU) def. CEOLIN, Mateus (MSU) 6-1, 6-1

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

BYU 4 NAU 2

Doubles Results

1. SULLIVAN, Jacob/PEARCE, John (BYU) def. Montano,Ruben/Eguez,Sebastian (NAU) 7-5
2. Taylor,Lucas/Handel,Tim (NAU) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) 6-4
3. CULLIMORE, Keaton/TULLIS, Sam (BYU) def. Schumann,Felix/Fisher,Thomas (NAU) 7-5

Order of finish: (2,1,3)

Singles Results

1. CULLIMORE, Keaton (BYU) def. Handel,Tim (NAU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Schumann,Felix (NAU) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 3-6, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2
3. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. Taylor,Lucas (NAU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
4. Eguez,Sebastian (NAU) def. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5)
5. PEARCE, John (BYU) def. Montano,Ruben (NAU) 6-4, 6-1
6. Fisher,Thomas (NAU) vs. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 6-5 (DNF)

Order of finish: (1,3,2,4,5)

PROVO, Utah – After dropping two tough matches to Ivy League competitors, BYU men’s tennis returns home to host regional opponents Denver, Montana State and Northern Arizona this weekend.

BYU (2-3, 0-0 WCC) faces Denver on Friday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m. MST before playing in a doubleheader against Montana State and Northern Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 12 p.m. and 5:30 p.m., respectively. With a victory over any of the three teams, BYU head coach Brad Pearce will earn the 200th win of his career.

Senior Jacob Sullivan was the only Cougar to record two victories in Massachusetts last weekend, as BYU fell to Harvard and Cornell. Sullivan fought his way back in a three-set tiebreaker over Harvard’s Andy Zhou and defeated Cornell’s Pietro Rimondini, both at fifth singles. Senior Keaton Cullimore also picked up a win against Cornell as he upset No. 62 Chris Vrabel at No. 2 singles.

Denver (1-2, 0-0 Summit League) boasts several ranked players in the Mountain Region, including No. 3 Diogo Rocha, No. 9 Yannik James and No. 11 Alex Gasson. Gasson and James are ranked No. 1 in doubles while teammates Pedro Fernandez Del Valle and Jesse Rudder-Hook are ranked sixth. The Pioneers competed in the ITA Kick-Off Tournament last weekend where they fell to Old Dominion and Utah. BYU dropped a close 4-3 match to No. 52 Denver on the road last season.

Montana State (2-4, 1-0 Big Sky) picked up a 5-2 victory over Northern Colorado after dropping matches to University of Missouri-Kansas City and Air Force last week. BYU and Montana State last met in January 2015, when the Cougars swept the Bobcats 7-0 in Provo.  

Northern Arizona (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky) will kick off its spring season at BYU this week. Sophomore Tim Handel is ranked No. 13 in the region and the Lumberjacks were selected to finish fourth in the Big Sky Conference. BYU defeated NAU 7-0 in Provo last season.

Admission to all three matches will be free to the public and free pizza will be provided. Links to live stats and a video stream can be found on the men’s tennis schedule page.