Road matches against No. 23 Oregon and No. 42 Drake

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.