PROVO, Utah – The winning streak ended for BYU men’s tennis after falling to Utah State 4-1 Friday night at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

“Congratulations to Utah State—they did a great job of taking advantage of the opportunities they had,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We didn’t do a very good job of that. We had multiple opportunities to secure matches. What it comes down to is that they did a better job of that than us tonight. It also hurt that Sean, who has been contributing to doubles and singles throughout the season, wasn't 100 percent or at his best going into the match. We need to regroup and come back ready tomorrow. We are going to focus on securing the win when it's there for us despite the adversity." 

Utah State (5-3, 1-0 MWC) brought momentum right from the start in doubles. BYU (7-1, 0-0 WCC) won the first doubles match with John Pearce and Ben Gajardo defeating Samuel Serrano and Valdemar Holm 6-1 in the No. 2 slot. The Aggies came back to secure the doubles point with victories in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles. Matthew Pearce and David Ball lost in a close 7-5 match against Andrew Nakajima and Bucur Sergiu.

Continuing the momentum, Utah State jumped ahead 3-1. Sean Hill fell to Jaime Barajas 6-1, 6-3 and Jeffrey Hsu lost to Bucur Sergiu 6-2, 6-2. J. Pearce won BYU its only point of the night with a victory in No. 3 singles over Samuel Serrano 6-4, 6-2. Sam Tullis battled in his match to keep the Cougars in it. He ultimately fell in a heartbreaking loss to Valdemar Holm 1-6, 7-6, 6-4. Gajardo and M. Pearce did not finish their matches after Utah State secured a 4-1 win over BYU.

The Cougars bounce back and open West Coast Conference play tomorrow night as they host Portland at 5:30 p.m. MST. The match will be played at the Indoor Tennis Courts, and links to live stats and video streaming are available on the men’s schedule page.

Match Results

BYU 1, USU 4

Doubles Results

1. BARAJAS, Jaime/CARVAJAL, Jose (USU) def. HSU, Jeffrey/TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 6-3
2. PEARCE, John/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) def. SERRANO, Samuel/HOLM, Valdemar (USU) 6-1
3. NAKAJIMA, Andrew/SERGIU, Bucur (USU) def. PEARCE, Matthew/BALL, David (BYU) 7-5

Order of finish: (2, 1, 3)

Singles Results

1. BARAJAS, Jaime (USU) def. HILL, Sean (BYU) 6-1, 6-3
2. SERGIU, Bucur (USU) def. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
3. PEARCE, John (BYU) def. SERRANO, Samuel (USU) 6-4, 6-2
4. HOLM, Valdemar (USU) def. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) 1-6, 7-6, 6-4
5. GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) vs. CARVAJAL, Jose (USU) 6-2, 2-3 (DNF)
6. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) vs. ACOSTA, Felipe (USU) 5-5 (DNF)

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

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PROVO, Utah – With a 7-0 undefeated record, BYU men’s tennis hosts two matches this weekend.

The Cougars will battle in-state rival Utah State Friday, Feb. 16, at 5:30 p.m. MST. Then West Coast Conference foe Portland comes to Provo Saturday, Feb. 17, at 5:30 p.m. MST. Both matches will be played at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

Sean Hill recently moved to No. 116 in the ITA national rankings for singles. He is 7-0 in No. 1 singles for BYU and will have a big match this weekend as he takes on No. 21 Michail Pervolarakis of Portland.

Sam Tullis and Ben Gajardo are coming off weeks of solid victories in singles, helping the Cougars clinch crucial wins and remain undefeated.

Doubles duo Hill and Jeffrey Hsu are 5-0 as the Cougars top doubles pair while teammates Matthew Pearce and David Ball are 5-1 in doubles for the season.

Utah State
The Aggies (4-3, 1-0 MWC) most recently lost to No. 16 Texas but swept Boise State 4-0. Senior Jaime Barajas leads the team in No. 1 singles. Several BYU players competed against USU players in the Fall ITA Mountain Regional tournament.

The Cougars have lost the last three-straight matches to the Aggies by the same 4-3 score. 

Portland
The Pilots (4-3, 0-0 WCC) won consecutive matches against Idaho and UC Davis last weekend. No. 21 Pervolarakis was named this week's WCC Singles Player of the Week and is 6-0 this season in the No. 1 slot for Portland.

In the last six years, BYU has lost to the Pilots twice, most recently a 4-1 loss last season.

Match Information
Admission to the matches is free to the public and free pizza and prizes will be provided. A Jimmer Fredette autographed basketball will be raffled Friday night and the first 50 students at Saturday night's match will receive T-shirts.

Links to live stats and a video stream can be found on the men’s schedule page.

Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media

Fans can keep up with the latest on Cougar tennis by following us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/byumenstennis/), Twitter (@BYU_Mens_Tennis) and Instagram (@byumtennis).