No. 52 BYU drops match to No. 9 Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 52 BYU men's tennis team dropped its match to No. 9 Stanford, 5-2, Friday at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
The Cougars (3-5) came out strong, winning the doubles point against the Cardinal (6-2).
John Morrissey and Ryan Thacher of Stanford topped senior Georgy Batrakov and sophomore Patrick Kawka on Court 1, 8-1. Freshman Keaton Cullimore and senior Michael Eraso were quick to tie the doubles score with an 8-4 victory over Jamin Ball and Robert Stineman on Court 3.
With the doubles point on the line, freshman Francis Sargeant and senior Spencer Smith pulled through an 8-6 victory over Matt Kandath and Denis Lin, 8-6, to earn BYU the doubles point. The Cougar duo is 13-6 overall.
Although he finished his match last, Kawka, ranked No. 106 nationally in singles, upset No. 75 Kandath at the No. 2 singles position, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6(3), to earn BYU its lone singles victory of the day.
No. 37 Thacher topped No. 45 Batrakov on Court 1, 6-1, 6-3.
Playing at the No. 4 position, No. 67 Cullimore narrowly fell to Morrissey, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (5).
BYU is back in action Feb. 15 when it takes on in-state rival Utah at the Eccles Tennis Center at 5 p.m.
No. 52 BYU 2
1) Morrissey/Thacher (STAN) d. Batrakov/Kawka (BYU) 8-1
2) Sargeant/Smith (BYU) d. Kandath/Lin (STAN) 8-6
3) Cullimore/Eraso (BYU) d. Ball/Stineman (STAN) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1) No. 37 Ryan Thacher (STAN) d. No. 45 Georgy Batrakov (BYU) 6-1, 6-3
2) No. 106 Patrick Kawka (BYU) d. No. 75 Matt Kandath (STAN) 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 (3)
3) Denis Lin (STAN) d. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-4, 7-5
4) John Morrissey (STAN) d. No. 67 Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 (5)
5) Robert Stineman (STAN) d. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 7-5, 7-5
6) Walker Kehrer (STAN) d. Michael Eraso (BYU) 6-3, 7-6
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5, 4, 2