Katherine Carling | Posted: 29 Feb 2020 | Updated: 8 Nov 2020

BYU falls 4-3 to Denver
Tennis player in blue uniform serves the ball over his head.

DENVER – The BYU men’s tennis team fell 4-3 to the University of Denver, Saturday, Feb. 29, at the Denver Tennis Park.

“The guys competed hard today,” BYU assistant coach Aidan Carrazedo said. “We put ourselves in a position to win but in the end, the result was out of our control.”

The Cougars (5-7) came out strong against the Pioneers (10-1) by claiming the doubles point.

David Ball and Sean Hill were the first to secure a win when they topped Daniel Krulig and Ignacio Crespo 6-1 in the No. 3 position. At first doubles, Matheus Ferreira Leite and Mateo Vereau Melendez defeated Matt Summers and James Davis 6-4 to close out doubles competition.

Heading into singles play up 1-0, BYU went on to claim two singles wins, while Denver grabbed four.

Melendez fell at the second position, 3-6, 3-6, to Mattia Ros, but Leite came out and bested Frulig at the No. 6 slot 6-4, 6-4, putting the Cougars up 2-1. A 6-2, 6-3 win on the fourth court from Jack Barnett over Castelino gave BYU its third and final point in the dual-match.

Denver rallied back to win the next three singles matches. Hill fell to Summers 3-6, 4-6 at No. 1 singles, while Sam Tullis fell short 4-6, 1-6 to David in the second position. Ben Gajardo took Pedro Fernandez Del Valle to three sets, ending with a tiebreaker, but ultimately came up short, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8).

The Cougars remain on the road to take on in-state rival University of Utah on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. MST, at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 3, Denver 4

Singles Competition

  1. Matt Summers (DEN) def. Sean Hill (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
  2. Mattia Ros (DEN) def. Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU) 6-3, 6-3
  3. James Davis (DEN) def. Sam Tullis (BYU) 6-4, 6-1
  4. Jack Barnett (BYU) def. Ignatius Castelino (DEN) 6-2, 6-3
  5. Pedro F. Del Valle (DEN) def. Ben Gajardo (BYU) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
  6. Matheus Ferreira Leite (BYU) def. Daniel Krulig (DEN) 6-4, 6-4

Order of finish: (2, 6, 4, 1, 3, 5)

Doubles Competition

  1. Matheus Ferreira Leite/Mateo Vereau Melendez (BYU) def. Matt Summers/James Davis (DEN) 6-4
  2. Pedro F. Del Valle/Mattia Ros (DEN) vs. Ben Gajardo/Sam Tullis (BYU) 6-5 unfinished
  3. David Ball/Sean Hill (BYU) def. Daniel Krulig/Ignacio R. Crespo (DEN) 6-1

Order of finish: (3, 1)