BYU Completes 7-0 Sweep Over Idaho State

PROVO, Utah — BYU men's tennis got back in the win column Saturday with a 7-0 sweep over Idaho State.

“It's always nice to win, and it's nice for everybody to get a chance to win,” BYU head coach Dave Porter said. “We played better than we did last week. We need to continue to work on staying on top of people once we're ahead. We won the first set in five of the singles matches quite easily and struggled in the second set. We need to be able to close better, but Idaho State's got a good team. They were playing under some challenging conditions, they drove all the way down this morning, played the match, and they're going to drive all the way back today in one day. We appreciate them coming, wish them good luck, and we're looking forward to playing Weber State again next week.”

The Bengals (0-6) picked up a win at No. 1 doubles as Patrik Trhac and Aleksander Petrovic defeated Jack Barnett and Mateo Vereau Melendez, 6-1. The Cougars (3-3), who went with three new doubles lineups, held commanding leads at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles, however, and looked poised to win the doubles point, but Idaho State rallied back to tie both matches up.

BYU would eventually prevail and take the doubles point. At the No. 2 spot, Ben Gajardo and Matheus Ferreira Leite, beat Hiroki Fujita and Robert Steinhauser, 6-4. Sean Hill and Sam Tullis then closed it out for the Cougars, beating Gary Rendek and Jaime Castillo-Lopez, 7-6 (2). 

In singles play, Tullis earned BYU’s first win at the No. 4 spot, beating Steinhauser, 6-1, 7-5. Three Cougars then closed out their matches within a matter of minutes, breaking open a 5-0 lead. At No. 2 singles, Vereau Melendez defeated Petrovic, 6-0, 6-4. Hill followed with a win over Trhac, 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the No. 1 spot and Gajardo beat Fujita, 6-1, 7-6 (0), for a win at No. 3 singles. 

Ferreira Leite then beat Castillo-Lopez, 6-1, 7-6 (5) at No. 5 singles, and Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) closed out the sweep with a 6-4, 7-6 (2) victory over Rendek at No. 6 singles.

The Cougars will remain at home for the third straight weekend as they host Weber State for the second time this season at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 5 p.m. MST. The match will be live streamed and live stats will also be available. 

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 7 Idaho State 0 

Doubles Competition

1. Patrik Trhac/Aleksander Petrovic (ISU) def. Jack Barnett/Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU), 6-1

2. Ben Gajardo/Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU) def. Hiroki Fujita/Robert Steinhauser (ISU), 6-4

3. Sean Hill/Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Gary Rendek/Jaime Castillo-Lopez (ISU), 7-6 (2)

Order of finish: (1, 2, 3)

Singles Competition

1. Sean Hill (BYU) def. Patrik Trhac (ISU), 7-6 (4), 6-4

2. Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU) def. Aleksander Petrovic (ISU), 6-0, 6-4

3. Ben Gajardo (BYU) def. Hiroki Fujita (ISU), 6-1, 7-6 (0)

4. Sam Tullis (BYU) def. Robert Steinhauser (ISU), 6-1, 7-5

5. Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU) def. Jaime Castillo-Lopez (ISU), 6-1, 7-6 (5)

6. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Gary Rendek (ISU), 6-4, 7-6 (2)

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