PROVO, Utah – Ben Gajardo’s singles win sealed the BYU men’s tennis team’s victory over Grand Canyon University, Saturday at the Indoor Tennis Courts on BYU's campus. The Cougars would go on to win the match 6-1. 

“Grand Canyon and Dr. Greg Prudhomme have a great group of kids," said BYU head coach Dave Porter. "It was a fairly-played, hard-fought match. It was an excellent first match of the year for us. We're very happy with the results in terms of outcome. We learned some things that we'll need to do better to be the team that we're capable of being this year, but all-in-all, we're happy. We're nursing some injuries, and we hope that those will be taken care of by next week when we play Weber State.”

The Cougars (1-0) got off to a quick start as they claimed the doubles point over the Lopes (0-1). Mateo Vereau Melendez and Matheus Ferreira Leite grabbed the first 6-4 win over Valentin Lang and Jiri Novak at the No. 1 position. Sean Hill and Jack Barnett finished next at No. 3 doubles, defeating Wolmar Boris-Moller and Loic Van Zeggelaar, 6-3.

At the No. 2 slot in singles play, Barnett quickly defeated Justin Cvitanovic 6-2, 6-1. Sam Tullis followed at the No. 3 position with a 6-1, 7-6 (3) win over Jiri Novak. At No. 4 singles, Ben Gajardo beat Freddie Grant 7-5, 6-4, clinching the match for BYU. 

Hill outlasted Valentin Lang for a 6-4, 6-4 win in No. 1 singles. The Lopes won their only match of the day as Van Zeggelaar defeated Ferreira Leite 7-5, 6-4. Dominik Jakovljevic then beat Boris-Moller 6-4, 7-6 (1) to complete the match.

The Cougars will be at home again next Saturday, Jan. 23, to host Weber State at the Indoor Tennis Courts at 3 p.m. MST. 

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 6, Grand Canyon 1

Doubles Competition

1. Mateo Vereau Melendez/Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU) def. Valentin Lang/Jiri Novak (GCU), 6-4

2. Sam Tullis/Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Justin Cvitanovic/Freddie Grant (GCU),  6-4

3. Sean Hill/Jack Barnett (BYU) vs. Wolmar Boris-Moller/Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU), 6-3

Order of finish: (1, 3, 2)

Singles Competition

1. Sean Hill (BYU) def. Valentin Lang (GCU), 6-4, 6-4

2. Jack Barnett (BYU) def. Justin Cvitanovic (GCU), 6-2, 6-1

3. Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Jiri Novak (GCU), 6-1, 7-6 (3)

4. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Freddie Grant (GCU), 7-5, 6-4

5. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Wolmar Boris-Moller (GCU), 6-4, 7-6 (1)

6. Loic Van Zeggelaar (GCU) def. Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU), 7-5, 6-4

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

PROVO, Utah — The BYU men's tennis team is set to open its 2020-2021 season against Grand Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 16 at 11am MST in the Indoor Tennis Courts. It will be the team's first match since senior Sean Hill and sophomore Jack Barnett competed in the ITA Texas Regional Championship on Oct. 24, 2020. 

"After practicing all fall and the last couple of weeks, we're thrilled to be able to start competing," BYU head coach Dave Porter said. "Grand Canyon is a good program, they won the WAC two years ago. Last year, of course, nobody finished the season, but their coach is a good friend of mine. He's an excellent coach and I know he's gonna bring a team that's ready and prepared to play. We're really looking forward to Saturday's match."

The Cougars are scheduled to play 21 matches this season, 13 of them at home and eight of them on the road. They will face each West Coast Conference team once, but there will be no WCC Tournament, as previously announced last year. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 20-29, 2021. 

BYU lost one senior in David Ball last season, but returns two graduate seniors in Hill and Sam Tullis (12-8 in singles, 11-8 in doubles). Hill (18-5 in singles, 11-6 in doubles) was recently ranked 98th in the Oracle/ITA Division 1 Men's Preseason National Rankings. The Cougars also return six players from last year's roster and welcome four freshman to the team: Brigham Andrus, Dominik Jakovljevic, Zac Larke, and Alex Lin. 

Until further notice, only family members are allowed to attend home matches. Family members will need to be on a pre-existing list and provide photo ID in order to attend.