No. 52 BYU men’s tennis gave No. 7 Pepperdine all it could handle, but fell 6-1, Saturday.

The Cougars (14-8, 4-3) looked for the early upset as the No. 1 doubles duo of Georgy Batrakov and Patrick Kawka beat Pepperdine’s A. Llampart/F. Tearney, 8-3.

The visiting Waves No. 2 doubles team of S. Faselow and J. Turner tied up doubles at 1-1 with their 8-6 victory over BYU’s Francis Sargeant and Spencer Smith. Sargeant and Smith were down 5-4 but tied up the match at five and six all before losing. 

With the doubles point in the hands of the No. 3 duos, both teams battled tough with the Cougars tying up the score at 6-6 after being down 4-2. Keaton Cullimore and Michael Eraso eventually lost 8-6.

“We were in a great position at two and three in doubles after Georgy’s and Patrick’s win, but just couldn’t get it done,” said BYU men’s tennis coach Brad Pearce. “We bounced back, fought hard on every court, at every position and we competed with a great team.”

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The visiting Waves were up 2-0 before Batrakov gave the Cougars hope with his win at No. 2 singles to bring the match score to 2-1. Despite battling hard on the remaining singles matches, BYU could not pick up any other singles points.

At No. 3 singles, the Cougars’ Kawka tied his match at 1-1 but fell in the third set 6-2, 1-6, 6-2. In similar fashion, Eraso, playing at the No. 6 singles spot, won the first set 6-1, Pepperdine tied it up in the second and eventually won in the third set 1-6, 7-6(3), 10-7. Freshman Cullimore battled through three sets as well at No. 4 singles before falling 6-2, 5-7, 10-7.

At Saturday’s match, BYU recognized its two graduating seniors and co-captains, Batakov and Eraso.

The Cougars now prepare to compete in their first ever West Coast Conference Tennis Championship beginning Wed., April 25 in San Diego. The winner of the tournament receives an automatic bid into the 2012 NCAA Championships.

No. 52 BYU-1; No. 7 Pepperdine-6

Singles:
1.     #9 Sebastian Fanselow (PEP) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-3, 6-3
2.    #74  Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. #20 Finn Tearney (PEP) 6-2, 4-2, (match retired due to player injury)
3.     Alex Llompart (PEP) def. #97 Patrick Kawka (BYU) 6-2, 1-6, 6-2
4.     #95 Mousheg Hovhannisyan (PEP) def. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 6-2, 5-7, 10-7
5.     Hugh Clarke (PEP) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
6.     Jenson Turner (PEP) def. Michael Eraso (BYU) 1-6, 7-6 (3), 10-7
Order of finish: 5, 2, 1, 3, 6, 4

Doubles:
1.     G. Batrakov/P. Kawka (BYU) def. #6 A. Llompart/F. Tearney (PEP) 8-3
2.     S. Fanselow/F. Tearney (PEP) def. F. Sargeant/S. Smith (BYU) 8-6
3.     D. Sofaer/H. Clarke (PEP) def. K. Cullimore/M. Eraso (BYU) 8-6
Order of finish: 1,2,3,

PROVO, Utah – In its final two matches of the regular season, the No. 52 BYU men’s tennis team hosts conference foes Loyola Marymount and No. 7 Pepperdine Friday and Saturday, respectively, at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts.

“Despite the hectic nature of finals week, our guys have been working hard in preparation for our final home matches and Senior Day,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “They are fired up about the opportunity of having LMU and a top-ranked program like Pepperdine here on our home courts where we are 27-1 over the last three years.”

The Cougars, who are undefeated at home this season, are 13-7 overall and 3-2 in West Coast Conference play.  BYU has two seniors that will be honored during Saturday’s match, Georgy Batrakov and Michael Eraso.

Batrakov leads the team as the No. 1 singles player and is ranked 74^th nationally in singles. Batrakov has the second highest career singles winning percentage at .736. The Russian netter is fourth in career singles wins with 95 and is only three wins away from passing former teammate Evan Urbina for third place.

Batrakov and sophomore Patrick Kawka team up at the No. 1 doubles position where they are 22-8 overall and 14-5 during spring play. 

After grabbing 6-1 wins over conference opponents Gonzaga and Portland, BYU took a week break before heading into the final week of the regular season.

LMU (10-11, 3-2 WCC) is coming off a 5-2 win over Gonzaga. Junior Nicholas Bjerke was February’s WCC player of the month. Bjerke went 5-0 during the month playing No. 2 singles and helped lead the Lions to a three-match winning streak during the month.

Pepperdine (19-6, 6-0 WCC) has three ranked singles players in No. 9 Sebastian Fanselow, No. 20 Finn Tearney and No. 95 Mousheg Hovhannisyan, along with the No. 6 ranked doubles team of Alex Llompart and Finn Tearney. The Waves are riding a 16-match win streak. In its last match, Pepperdine swept Abilene Christian 7-0. The Waves challenge Fresno State Wednesday before travelling to BYU.

Both matches kick off at noon MDT at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts. Admission is free and pizza will be provided.

“We are having a drawing for an autographed Jimmer Ball and a brand-new tennis racket, along with a limited edition Federer poster and other prizes. The sun will be out, so it will be a great weekend of tennis.”

The WCC Championships begin April 25 in San Diego.