EUGENE, Ore. – Senior Keaton Cullimore highlighted BYU’s performance as the Cougars fell to No. 23 Oregon 7-0 on Friday night at the Student Tennis Center in Eugene, Oregon.

“It’s good for us to play top-ranked teams like Oregon,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “They have good players and are well coached. I was proud of the way our guys battled; these kinds of matches will force us to play at a higher level of tennis. We’ll regroup and come out fighting against Drake tomorrow.”

Oregon (9-2, 0-0 Pac-12) jumped out to an early lead over BYU (7-6, 1-0 WCC) by taking the doubles point. Aidan Carrazedo and Sam Tullis fell to Simon Stevens and Akihiro Tanaka 6-1, while Jacob Sullivan and Jeremy Bourgeois dropped their match 6-1 to No. 39 Jayson Amos and Armando Soemarno at first doubles.

At the No. 2 slot, John Pearce and Cullimore put up a fight, sending their match against No. 47 Cormac Clissold and Thomas Laurent into a tiebreak before the Ducks won 6-5(9).

The Ducks continued to dominate in singles play. Tanaka defeated Matthew Pearce 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles before Bourgeois fell 6-4, 6-3 to Amos at the No. 4 slot. Ty Gentry took down Carrazedo 6-4, 6-1 followed by another Oregon victory as Sullivan lost his match to Stevens, 6-2, 6-4 at second singles. At No. 5 singles, John Pearce’s match was retired during the second set.

Cullimore once again fought hard as he came back to win his second set but ultimately fell to No. 36 Laurent 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.

BYU faces off against No. 42 Drake on Saturday at 2 p.m. PST at the Student Tennis Center.

Oregon 7, BYU 0

Doubles Results

1. No. 39 Amos/A. Soemarno (Oregon) def. Sullivan/Bourgeois (BYU) 6-1
2. No. 47 Clissold/Laurent (Oregon) def. J. Pearce/Cullimore (BYU) 6-5(9-7)
3. Stevens/Tanaka (Oregon) def. Carrazedo/Tullis (BYU) 6-1

Order of finish: (3,1,2)

Singles Results

1. No. 36 Laurent (Oregon) def. Cullimore (BYU) 6-0, 5-7, 6-2
2. Stevens (Oregon) def. Sullivan (BYU) 6-2, 6-4
3. Tanaka (Oregon) def. M. Pearce (BYU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Amos (Oregon) def. Bourgeois (BYU) 6-4, 6-3
5. Clissold (Oregon) def. J. Pearce (BYU) 7-6(9-7), 3-2 (ret.)
6. Gentry (Oregon) def. Carrazedo (BYU) 6-4, 6-1

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

PROVO, Utah – After defeating conference foe San Francisco at home on Saturday, BYU men’s tennis travels to Oregon to take on two nationally-ranked teams, No. 23 Oregon and No. 42 Drake.

BYU (7-5) split matches in Provo last week, falling 4-3 to New Mexico and topping San Francisco 4-2. Keaton Cullimore and John Pearce as well as doubles duo Aidan Carrazedo and Sam Tullis went 2-0 in doubles play on the week. Senior Jacob Sullivan won both of his matches at No. 2 singles.

Oregon (8-2) was riding a five-match winning streak before falling to Minnesota 5-2 in Minneapolis on Sunday. No. 36 Thomas Laurent has won 13 consecutive singles matches and is 13-0 in his career at the No. 1 position. Oregon also boasts three nationally-ranked doubles teams: No. 33 Laurent and Clissold, No. 47 Jayson Amos and Simon Stevens and No. 51 Amos and Armando Soemarno. The Cougars and Ducks haven’t met since February 2007 when BYU took home a 4-3 victory.

Drake (6-3) lost to Wisconsin 5-2 last Thursday. No. 55 Vinny Gillespie dominated his opponent at No. 1 singles in straight sets to secure one of the two Bulldogs’ points. Gillespie has also been named the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Tennis Athlete of the Week three times this season. BYU and Drake last met in February 2010 when the Cougars topped the Bulldogs 6-1 on the road.

BYU takes on Oregon on Friday, Feb. 24, at 5 p.m. PST before playing Drake on Saturday, Feb. 25, at 2 p.m. Both matches will be held in Eugene, Oregon at the Student Tennis Center.