Every seat in the BYU indoor tennis facility was filled Thursday night as the men’s tennis team fell to in-state rival Utah 4-2.
BYU got off to a slow start, giving up two doubles matches and putting the Utes in the lead. The Cougars headed into singles play with a deficit, but a late surge kept the Cougars alive until the end.
“In rivalry situations like this, the doubles point is so crucial,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “I didn’t feel like we played our best tennis during the doubles.”
When Keaton Cullimore and Jeremy Bourgeois both lost their singles matches, the score went to 3-0 and the pressure fell on the rest of the team. Matthew Pearce and Jacob Sullivan both had strong comeback wins to give the Cougars their first two points of the night.
With BYU down 3-2 it was up to John Pearce to tie the match. After losing a tough first set 6-1, Pearce managed a huge comeback to take the second set. The Ute’s victory was secured when John Pearce well quickly in the third set.
“I was proud of the way our guys fought back as a team,” Brad Pearce said. “There were some great individual performances in singles play and I couldn’t be more positive, but ultimately we didn’t get the win.”
The Cougars will stay at home to host Boise State this Saturday.
