Sean Hill gets big win as BYU suffers first loss

EUGENE, Ore. – BYU men’s tennis suffered its first loss of the season, falling to Oregon, 5-2, in the first match of a two-match series at the UO Student Tennis Center Friday.

"I'm disappointed about the outcome, but we learned a lot by playing the match today," BYU head coach Dave Porter said. "Oregon has a solid team. We did some things very well, and we didn't step up when it counted in certain situations. We're hoping to learn from that and play better tomorrow. This is a wonderful trip for us to both get to sea level and to learn about what we do in certain situations, and I think we learned a lot today. I also want to congratulate Sean Hill, who had a great win against a highly ranked singles player, so that's a good win for Sean. Ben played a very solid match and we played some good doubles, we just missed some opportunities."

After Mateo Vereau Melendez and Matheus Ferreira Leite were swept by Joshua Charlton and Brandon Lam at No. 1 doubles, the Cougars (2-1) looked poised to earn the doubles point over the Ducks (1-0). BYU held leads at both No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, but Oregon came rallying back, forcing tiebreakers on both courts.

Sam Tullis and Ben Gajardo kept BYU alive with a 7-6 (6) win in the No. 2 slot over Luke and Quinn Vandecasteele, but Sean Hill and Jack Barnett fell short at the No. 3 slot, losing 6-7 (11) in the tiebreaker to Emmanuel Coste and Jesper Klov-Nilsson, and yielding the doubles point to the Ducks.

Oregon continued their dominance in singles play. At No. 3 singles, the Ducks’ Q. Vandecasteele defeated Vereau Melendez, 6-1, 6-2. Klov-Nilsson quickly followed with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 6 singles over Dominik Jakovljevic. L. Vandecasteele then beat Tullis at No. 4 singles, 7-5, 6-2.

Gajardo ended Oregon’s bid for a sweep with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 singles over Ryoma Matsushita. The Ducks got back in the win column when 76th ranked Coste beat Barnett at No. 2 singles, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. 98th ranked Hill closed the match with a win for BYU, upsetting Oregon’s 30th ranked Charlton, 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (5).

The Cougars will remain in Eugene to play the second match of their two-match series with Oregon tomorrow, Jan. 30, at 12 p.m. PST. The match can be watched via live stream, and live stats will also be available.  

MATCH RESULTS

Oregon 5, BYU 2

Doubles

1. Joshua Charlton/Brandon Lam (UO) def. Mateo Vereau Melendez/Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU), 6-0

2. Sam Tullis/Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Luke Vandecasteele/Quinn Vandecasteele (UO), 7-6 (6)

3. Emmanuel Coste/Jesper Klov-Nilsson (UO) def. Sean Hill/Jack Barnett (BYU), 7-6 (11)

Order of finish: (1, 2, 3)

Singles

1. #98 Sean Hill (BYU) def. #30 Joshua Charlton (UO), 5-7, 6-1, 1-0 (5)

2. #76 Emmanuel Coste (UO) def. Jack Barnett (BYU), 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

3. Quinn Vandecasteele (UO) def. Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU), 6-1, 6-2

4. Luke Vandecasteele (UO) def. Sam Tullis (BYU), 7-5, 6-2

5. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Ryoma Matsushita (UO), 6-4, 6-4

6. Jesper Klov-Nilsson (UO) def. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU), 6-2, 6-3

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