SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Playing in gusts of wind up to 40 mph, BYU men’s tennis suffered a tough 4-0 loss to UC Santa Barbara on Friday at the Arnhold Tennis Center.
“I am proud of the fight we put up today,” said BYU head coach Dave Porter. “The conditions were challenging, but for the most part we played acceptably well.”
The Gauchos claimed the doubles point after a come-from-behind win at No. 3 doubles. Jack Barnett and Tennyson Whiting fell 6-1 to their UCSB opponents at No. 1 doubles. At No. 2 doubles, the Cougars were on serve when the doubles point was decided. Wally Thayne and Dominik Jakovljevic trailed closely behind UCSB 5-4, ending their match unfinished.
In singles play, BYU played without Brigham Andrus who recently underwent knee surgery, and Zach Fuchs who is recovering from a stress fracture. Both senior Matheus Leite and sophomore Alex Lin dropped matches to give UCSB a 3-0 lead. With Mateo Verueau and Dominik Jakovljevic losing their first sets in tiebreakers, and Thayne serving for the second set, an injured Jack Barnett dropped his singles match to give the Gauchos the overall 4-0 win.
The Cougars “played well but need to learn how to make adjustments,” said Porter. “It is difficult coming from high altitude and indoors to low altitude and windy conditions. Some of us adjusted better than others, but we will be ready for tomorrow against Cal Poly.”
No. 2, 4 and 5 singles matches went unfinished.
The Cougars will travel to San Luis Obispo to face Cal Poly tomorrow at 12 p.m. PST. Live stats will be available.
Doubles:
1. Phillip Jordan/Kai Brady (UCSB) def. Jack Barnett/Tennyson Whiting (BYU) 6-1
2. Stefano Tsorotiotis/Alejandro Vedri (UCSB) vs. Wally Thayne/Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 5-4, unfinished
3. Pablo Masjuan/Gianluca Brunkow (UCSB) def. Matheus Ferreira Lei/Mateo Vereau (BYU) 7-5
Singles:
1. Phillip Jordan (UCSB) def. Jack Barnett (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Pablo Masjuan (UCSB) vs. Wally Thayne (BYU) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
3. Stefano Tsorotiotis (UCSB) def. Matheus Ferreira Lei (BYU) 6-2, 6-1
4. Victor Krustev (UCSB) vs. Mateo Vereau (BYU) 7-6 (7-5), unfinished
5. Kai Brady (UCSB) vs. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) 7-6 (7-3), unfinished
6. Alejandro Vedri (UCSB) def. Alex Lin (BYU) 6-1, 6-2