SPOKANE, Wash. – BYU men’s tennis dropped its sixth consecutive match Friday in a 4-3 nail-biter with West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga in Spokane.

The Cougars (9-15, 3-4) fell behind early when the Zags (10-7, 2-4) took the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Francis Sargeant and Shane Monroe won at No. 1 doubles but the duos of Jeremy Bourgeois with Jacob Sullivan and David Ball with Aidan Carrazedo both fell at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively.

Carrazedo regained some momentum for BYU with a quick victory at No. 6 singles when he beat Vicente Varas 6-2, 6-1 in the only two-set match of the day. Gonzaga bounced back at No. 1 singles where Alvaro Nazal outplayed Sargeant to a 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2 victory to recapture the lead but Monroe won 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in his matchup with Nick Kamisar to even the score.

The Cougars got their first lead of the match at 3-2 shortly after when Juan Canales pulled out a win at No. 5 singles, beating Sergio Chip 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-4. Despite only needing one more victory to clinch the match, BYU could not close it out and lost at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. Sullivan fell to Hayden Smith 0-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 and Bourgeois dropped his No. 4 match to Vladimir Mijatovic 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1) to give the Zags the 4-3 win.

The Cougars travel to Portland tomorrow for their final WCC match tomorrow at 1 p.m. PDT.

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis hits the road for two crucial West Coast Conference matches at Gonzaga and No. 64 Portland Friday and Saturday.

The Cougars (9-14, 3-3) enter Spokane, Washington, on a five-match losing streak, but three of the five losses have come against teams ranked in the top 50 including No. 2 Baylor. BYU is in the middle of the pack in the WCC in fifth place as the conference slate begins to wind down. With conference leader San Diego visiting Provo next week, the Cougars hope to use this weekend to build some momentum.

The Zags (9-7, 1-4) have lost three consecutive matches in conference, falling to Pacific, Saint Mary’s and Portland. Gonzaga is led by junior Alvaro Nazal at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles and currently sit in eighth in the WCC standings.

The Pilots (11-4, 4-1) trail only San Diego in the WCC standings and will host the Toreros Friday before facing the Cougars on Saturday. So far Portland has only lost to Pacific in conference and has yet to drop a match at home. The Pilots are led by Steffen Dierauf at No. 1 singles and doubles. Dierauf is coming off a 6-1, 6-2 win over Nazal last week.

After the weekend’s away matches, the Cougars return home to host San Diego on April 18 for senior day.