IRVINE, Calif. – BYU men’s tennis fell 4-1 to UC Irvine Friday afternoon at the Anteater Tennis Stadium.

“No matter who we play, the first match is always going to be tough for us when we’re transitioning from altitude to sea level,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “However, we wanted a match under our belt before playing San Diego as we’re both undefeated in conference play. We give credit to Irvine who played well today on their home courts. We’re already looking forward to San Diego—we’ll play better tomorrow.”

BYU (14-4) fought hard in doubles but ultimately fell short to UC Irvine (12-8). Bruce Man-Son-Hing and Vatsal Bajpai defeated Cougar duo John Pearce and Ben Gajardo 6-0 in No. 2 singles. Sean Hill and Jeffrey Hsu lost their first doubles match this season. Mason Hansen and Luca Marquard of UC Irvine earned a 6-4 victory over Hill and Hsu in the No. 1 slot.

Hsu claimed BYU’s only win of the day with a 6-2, 6-4 win in No. 2 singles against Sasha Krasnov. David Ball fell 6-1, 6-2 to Bajpai, while Hill lost to Luis Lopez in a three-set match 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. The Anteaters solidified the 4-1 win over the Cougars with a close win in No. 5 singles. Hansen defeated Gajardo 2-6, 6-4, 7-6.

BYU bounces back and plays conference opponent No. 42 San Diego on Saturday, Mar. 31, at noon PST at the USD West Tennis Courts. Live stats are available on the men’s schedule page.

Match Results

BYU 1, UC Irvine 4

Doubles Results

1. HANSEN, Mason/MARQUARD, Luca (UCI) def. HILL, Sean/HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) 6-4
2. MAN-SON-HING, Bruce/BAJPAI, Vatsal (UCI) def. PEARCE, John/GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) 6-0
3. PEARCE, Matthew/TULLIS, Jacob (BYU) vs. LOPEZ, Luis/GEALER, Daniel (UCI) 4-5 (DNF)

Order of finish: (2, 1)

Singles Results

1. LOPEZ, Luis (UCI) def. HILL, Sean (BYU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
2. HSU, Jeffrey (BYU) def. KRASNOV, Sasha (UCI) 6-2, 6-4
3. MARQUARD, Luca (UCI) vs. PEARCE, John (BYU) 6-2, 4-6, 5-3 (DNF)
4. TULLIS, Sam (BYU) vs. GEALER, Daniel (UCI) 6-2, 4-6, 4-4 (DNF)
5. HANSEN, Mason (UCI) def. GAJARDO, Ben (BYU) 2-6, 6-4, 7-6
6. BAJPAI, Vatsal (UCI) def. BALL, David (BYU) 6-1, 6-2

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

Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media
Fans can keep up with the latest on Cougar tennis by following us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/byumenstennis), Twitter (@BYU_Mens_Tennis) and Instagram (@byumtennis).

PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis travels to California for two matchups against UC Irvine Friday morning and West Coast Conference opponent No. 42 San Diego Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars (14-3, 3-0 WCC) play against UC Irvine Friday, Mar. 30, at 10 a.m. PST at the Anteater Tennis Stadium. BYU will then face conference foe No. 42 San Diego on Saturday, Mar. 31, at 2 p.m. PST at the USD West Tennis Courts.

BYU is coming off an emotional three-match weekend with a big 4-1 conference win over Gonzaga, a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to in-state rival No. 39 Utah and a 4-3 victory against regional opponent UNLV.

Sophomore Sam Tullis led the Cougars with three singles wins last weekend in No. 4 singles. Sophomore Sean Hill and freshman Ben Gajardo picked up two more singles wins in No. 1 and No. 5 singles, respectively.

Doubles duo Gajardo and senior John Pearce claimed three wins in No. 2 doubles over the weekend. The pair is 9-3 on the season. Hill and junior Jeffrey Hsu remain undefeated (10-0) on the season and earned two more doubles wins in the No. 1 slot.

UC Irvine

The Anteaters (10-7) had a bye week last weekend after picking up wins against Gonzaga, Yale and Liberty University two weeks ago. Riding a seven-game winning streak, UC Irvine competes this week against No. 4 UCLA.

Sasha Krasnov was recently named Big West Athlete of the Week after coming in 4-0 in No. 2 singles last week and has won seven-straight singles matches. Luis Lopez leads the Anteaters with 11 match wins this season. BYU and UC Irvine last met in 2009 where the Cougars went home with a 4-3 win.

No. 42 San Diego

The Toreros (8-7, 2-0 WCC) are coming off two big wins against Denver and conference opponent Portland.

With many ranked players, San Diego will be ready to compete against BYU. In singles, No. 77 August Holmgren plays in the No. 1 slot. He is 8-4 during the regular season. No. 121 Joel Gamerov plays in the No. 3 slot and is 9-5 this season.

The Toreros sports two nationally ranked doubles teams. No. 72 Gui Osorio and Nico Borter play primarily in the No. 1 slot and No. 79 duo Joel Gamerov and August Holmgren play in the No. 2 slot.

San Diego and BYU are tied 3-3 in the last six matchups with the Cougars sweeping the Toreros 4-0 last year.

Links to live stats are available on the men’s schedule page. Results will be updated following the matches.

Follow Men’s Tennis on Social Media
Fans can keep up with the latest on Cougar tennis by following us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/byumenstennis), Twitter (@BYU_Mens_Tennis) and Instagram (@byumtennis).