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.

PROVO, Utah - The No. 52 BYU men’s tennis team heads to California to take on No. 9 Stanford at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium Friday at 1:30 p.m. PST.

“Stanford is a storied tennis program,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “I think we can compete against them. We’re excited to compete there. Our goal every match is to win.”

Coming off back-to-back wins against Idaho State and Montana State, the Cougars (3-4) look to carry momentum to Friday’s match against the Cardinal (5-2). Perennial powerhouse Stanford is coming off a 6-1 victory over Hawaii on Tuesday.

Stanford fell to then-No. 9 UCLA, 6-1, last week. BYU dropped its match to UCLA Jan. 20 by the same score.

 At the No. 1 singles position, the Cougars have No. 43 Georgy Batrakov. The Russian senior is 12-6 on the season and 11-6 in doubles with sophomore Patrick Kawka. Kawka ranks No. 106 in the nation in singles and plays at the No. 3 position.

At the No. 2 position for BYU is senior Spencer Smith. The Salt Lake City native holds the best singles record on the team at 18-4. Smith also plays on Court 2 in doubles alongside freshman Francis Sargeant. The duo is 12-6 overall.

Rounding out the three ranked Cougars is No. 67 Keaton Cullimore. The freshman owns a 14-7 record and plays at the No. 4 position for BYU. Cullimore and fellow freshman Dean Ormsby team up at the No. 3 doubles position, where they are undefeated on the season.

Stanford has played its first seven matches without the service of two-time All-American Bradley Klahn due to injury.

The Cardinal has two ranked players in No. 37 Ryan Thacher, who is 13-6 overall, and No. 75 Matt Kandath, who holds a 10-8 overall record.

Thatcher and John Morrissey team up to form the No. 1 doubles duo for Stanford. The duo is 9-3 on the season.

BYU is 2-19 all-time in match play against Stanford.

For live stats during the match, click here.