WASHINGTON D.C. – Jack Barnett clinched the match for the BYU men’s tennis team as the Cougars defeated George Washington University 4-3 on Saturday.

“We secured the doubles point, but found ourselves immediately on our heels at almost every position with our opponents’ offensive play," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "If it hadn’t been for our guys digging in and battling for every game, we would have been beaten by a good team today. Fortunately, we showed a lot of character and heart by not going away. I couldn’t be more proud of our fight today—and that’s why we won.

BYU vs. George Washington Match Results

The Cougars (1-1) started out strong by claiming the doubles point over the Colonials (0-1). Ben Gajardo and Sam Tullis were first to finish with a quick 6-1 victory over Lawrence Sciglitano and Jakub Behun at No. 3 doubles.

In the No. 2 slot, Matheus Ferriero Leite and J. Barnett fell 3-6 to Ethan Jacobs and Ryan Navarro. Sean Hill and Mateo Vereau Melendez clinched the doubles point for BYU by defeating Ben Barnett and Zicheng Zeng 6-4 on the No. 1 court.

Up 1-0 heading into singles play, Hill gave the second point of the match to the Cougars by claiming a 6-3, 6-1 win over Ryan Navarro in the first position.

George Washington went on to win the next three matches, putting them up 3-2 over BYU. At No. 2 singles, Melendez dropped his match to Zeng 0-6, 3-6. Leite fought against Ethan Jacobs at the No. 3 slot, but lost in the third set, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 2-6. In the sixth position, David Ball fell 4-6, 6-7 (2-7) to Behun.

The Cougars went on to win the final two matches, with J. Barnett clinching the dual-match win. Gajardo tied it up at 3-3 with his 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 win over Sciglitano and J. Barnett gave the final point to BYU when he defeated B. Barnett in three sets, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.

The Cougars remain on the road to face Old Dominion on Monday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m. EST. Live stats can be found on the men’s tennis schedule page.

PROVO, Utah – The BYU men’s tennis team opens regular season play on the road against No. 11 UCLA, George Washington and Old Dominion.

The Cougars first travel west to face UCLA on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at 2 p.m. PST. BYU then travels to the east coast for its matchup against George Washington University on Saturday, Jan. 18, at 1 p.m. EST and Old Dominion on Monday, Jan. 20, at 1 p.m. EST.

BYU

Newcomers Jack Barnett and Matheus Ferreira Leite round out the Cougar roster as eight players return to compete. A successful fall tournament season brought BYU a regional champion and runner-up, a trip to the ITA All-American and to the ITA Fall National Championship. The Cougars look to build on their success during the dual-match season.

NO. 11 UCLA

The Bruins have 12 returning players and one new freshman. Their experienced lineup earned them the No. 11 national ranking after a successful 2019-20 fall season. This matchup will the 11th the Cougars have seen.

George Washington

The Cougars have only faced the Colonials one other time in 2014, where BYU came out on top with a 4-3 victory. George Washington sports a young team with seven sophomores. Two seniors solidify the Colonial lineup.

Old Dominion

The Monarchs are showing off a young team with six underclassmen. Three upperclassmen round out the team. During the 2018-19 season, BYU took on Old Dominion twice, coming out with wins in both matches.  

Scores for the matches will be updated on the men’s tennis schedule page as soon as matches are completed.