CLAREMONT, Calif. – Despite strong singles play from Jacob Sullivan and Jeremy Bourgeois, BYU fell to Santa Clara 4-2 in the opening round of the West Coast Conference tournament on Thursday.

No. 3 seed BYU (13-12, 6-4 WCC) dropped the doubles point after No. 6 seed Santa Clara (15-6, 5-5 WCC) pulled out victories on courts one and two. Aidan Carrazedo and Sam Tullis finished first with a 6-4 win over Andrew Gu and Kamran Khan, but it wasn’t enough as Sullivan and John Pearce came up short in a close tiebreak, 7-6(5) to Conner Garnett and Vasileios Iliopoulos who clinched the point.

In singles action, Sullivan fought back for the Cougars with a quick 6-2, 6-4 victory over Gu at the No. 1 slot, Sullivan’s first singles match of his collegiate career on court one. The Broncos responded with straight-set wins over Carrazedo and Tullis before Bourgeois earned BYU’s second point of the match, beating Khan 6-4, 6-3, on court six. Santa Clara then secured the match victory with a win over Keaton Cullimore at second singles.

BYU closed out the 2016-17 regular season with a third place conference finish and an overall record of 13-12. Sullivan finished with a team-high 16 singles victories in dual season play. 

SCU 4, BYU 2

Doubles Results

1. Garnett/Iliopoulos (SCU) def. J. Pearce/Sullivan (BYU) 7-6(5)
2. Seby/Barajas (SCU) def. Bourgeois/M. Pearce (BYU) 6-4
3. Carrazedo/Tullis (BYU) def. Gu/Khan (SCU) 6-4

Order of finish: 3,2,1

Singles Results

1. Sullivan (BYU) def. Gu (SCU) 6-2, 6-4
2. Seby (SCU) def. Cullimore (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Garnett (SCU) vs. J. Pearce (BYU) 6-2, 4-6, 4-2 unfinished
4. Barajas (SCU) def. Tullis (BYU) 7-5, 6-2
5. Iliopoulos (SCU) def. Carrazedo (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
6. Bourgeois (BYU) def. Khan (SCU) 6-4, 6-3

Order of finish: 1,5,4,6,2

PROVO, Utah – After finishing third in regular-season conference play, BYU men’s tennis travels to Claremont, California, to compete in the West Coast Conference tournament this weekend.

No. 3 seed BYU (13-11, 6-3 WCC) plays in the opening round against No. 6 seed Santa Clara (14-6, 4-5 WCC) on Thursday, April 27, at 1 p.m. PDT, at the Biszantz Family Tennis Center. The Cougars topped the Broncos 4-2 at home earlier this season after junior John Pearce clinched the match, taking down Vasileios Iliopoulos at No. 5 singles.

With a victory over Santa Clara, BYU would advance to the semifinals and face off against No. 2 seed Pepperdine on Friday, April 28, at 2 p.m. The final round will played on Saturday at 2 p.m. 

The Cougars closed out regular-season play with two tough road losses to Pepperdine and LMU. BYU swept Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga earlier in April and shutout San Diego 4-0 at home in March.

The tournament schedule, bracket and links to live streaming can be found on the conference championship page.