MALIBU, Calif. – Plagued by windy conditions, the No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team narrowly fell to No. 36 Vanderbilt, 4-3, Friday in Malibu, Calif., as part of the ITA Kick-off Weekend.

The Cougars (1-3) swept the Commodores (2-0) in doubles, earning a point for BYU. Playing at the No. 1 position, senior Georgy Batrakov and sophomore Patrick Kawka earned the first BYU doubles victory when they took down Carlie Jones and Jeff Offerdahl, 8-6.

Despite playing in their first match together, freshmen Keaton Cullimore and Dean Ormsby followed suite with an 8-5 win over Gonzales Austin and Anton Kovrigin at the No. 3 position.

Senior Spencer Smith and freshman Francis Sargeant had their opponents Joe Dorn and Alex DiValerio tied (7-7) when the match was called off because BYU had already secured the doubles point with two wins.

No. 67 Cullimore, playing at the No. 4 position, was the first off the court for the Cougars in singles, defeating Kovrigin 6-0, 7-5.

No. 106 Kawka lost a tough set to Dorn at the No. 3 position. Kawka pushed Dorn to a second set tiebreaker and was up 5-0 before Dorn came back to take the victory, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

Sargeant fought hard in a three-set thriller against Offerdahl but ultimately fell 0-6, 6-3, 6-2.

No. 87 Charlie Jones upset No. 43 Batrakov at the No. 1 position, 6-4, 6-4.

Due to Vanderbilt reaching four points and therefore winning the match, DiValerio retired, giving Ormsby a 6-3, 5-7, 2-3 victory and BYU its third point.

BYU will face No. 52 Cal Poly (0-3) in the consolation match of the ITA Kick-off Weekend Saturday at 10 a.m. PST. Cal Poly is coming off a 4-0 loss to No. 12 Pepperdine Friday.

Cal Poly has one ranked player in No. 22 Andre Dome. Dome defeated No. 13 Alex Musialek, No. 18 Andreas Mies and No. 26 Ignacio Taboada at the ITA All-American Championships in the fall. The Cougars own a 2-1 all-time record over the Mustangs.

BYU: 3
Vanderbilt: 4

Singles

1.  No. 87 Charlie Jones (VANDY) def. No. 43 Georgy Batrakov (BYU) 6-4, 6-4
2. Gonzales Austin (VANDY) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Joe Dorn (VANDY) def. No. 106 Patrick Kawka (BYU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)
4. No. 67 Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Anton Kovrigin (VANDY) 6-0, 7-5
5. Jeff Offerdahl (VANDY) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 0-6, 6-3, 6-2
6. Dean Ormsby (BYU) def. Alex DiValerio (VANDY) 6-3, 5-7, 2-3, retired

Doubles

1. Georgy Batrakov/Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Charlie Jones/Jeff Offerdahl (VANDY) 8-6
2. Francis Sargeant/Spencer Smith (BYU) vs. Joe Dorn/Alex DiValerio (VANDY) 7-7, unfinished
3. Keaton Cullimore/Dean Ormsby (BYU) def. Gonzales Austin/Anton Kovrigin (VANDY) 8-5

Match Notes:

Vanderbilt 2-0; National ranking #36
BYU 1-3; National ranking #49
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (4,2,3,1,5)

PROVO, Utah - The No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team looks to bounce back from last weekend’s losses as it travels to Malibu, Calif., to take on No. 36 Vanderbilt Friday as part of the ITA Kick-off Weekend.

The Cougars (1-2) take on the Vanderbilt Commodores (1-0) Friday at 10 a.m. PST. The winner will advance to compete against the winner of No. 12 Pepperdine (0-0) and No. 52 Cal Poly (0-2) Saturday at 2 p.m. PST in the championships for a berth at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in February. A consolation match will be played between the two remaining teams Saturday at 10 a.m. PST.

Pepperdine was selected to host the four-team tournament based on its year-end 2011 Campbell/ITA team ranking. Pepperdine holds the top seed while BYU claims the No. 2 seed. Vanderbilt and Cal Poly follow as the third and fourth seed, respectively. 

The matchup against Vanderbilt is a first for BYU, while the Cougars have a 1-9 record against perennial powerhouse and new West Coast Conference foe Pepperdine. BYU holds a winning record against Cal Poly at 2-1.

Leading the Cougars at the No. 1 singles position is No. 43 Georgy Batrakov. Batrakov knocked off top-10 player Kevin King of Georgia Tech at the ITA All-American Championships in the fall. The Russian senior is 11-4 on the season and 8-5 at the No. 1 doubles position with sophomore Patrick Kawka. Kawka ranks No. 106 in singles and holds a 13-6 season record.

Junior Spencer Smith scored BYU’s lone point against then-No. 9 UCLA last weekend with a win against No. 72 Clay Thompson. Smith has the most singles and doubles wins for the team with a 15-3 singles season record and 10-5 doubles season record with freshman Francis Sargeant.

BYU’s third ranked player is No. 67 Keaton Cullimore. Freshman Cullimore is 11-6 on the season and 4-2 in doubles with senior Michael Eraso.

Vanderbilt has one ranked player in No. 87 Charlie Jones, who only dropped one game at the No. 1 singles position in Vanderbilt’s 6-1 win over Middle Tennessee last week.

The Commodores hope to have their No. 1 player, Ryan Lipman, back from injury by Friday.

A total of 60 men’s teams will be competing around the country as part of the ITA Kick-off Weekend.