PROVO, Utah – Idaho men's tennis fell on the road to BYU, 4-2, on Wednesday night to wrap up non-conference play.

"We have played a bunch of good teams all semester," Head Coach Daniel Hangstefer said. "It was another close match and I'm glad we keep getting put into these situations where we are having close matches with good teams. They haven't quite gone our way in a lot of them but I think that is just going to make us better through conference play. I'm happy with our first half of the season. We played six to seven nationally ranked teams and we have been competitive in every one of them. We are looking forward to conference action and I think we are ready to go."

The Vandals were unable to earn a win in doubles play, as the Cougars started off by capturing a victory over Francisco Bascon and Bruno Casino at the No. 1 position. Idaho looked poised to mount a comeback at No. 2 but was ultimately outlasted, giving BYU the early 1-0 lead.

The Cougars continued their success early on in singles, as Wally Thayne earned a straight-set (6-2, 6-1) win over Francisco Gay at No. 1 singles. Over at No. 4, Matteo Masala was defeated by Dominik Jakovljevic 6-2, 7-6 to give BYU a 3-0 advantage.

The Vandals gained back their momentum after picking up a pair of wins at No. 2 and No. 3.

Bascon brought the team score to 3-1, defeating Matheus Ferreira Lei in a three-set comeback. Bascon fell in the opening set 6-4 before answering with back-to-back 6-2 wins in the final two sets to pick up his fifth straight singles win of the spring season.

Casino added the second team point to the scoreboard for Idaho after willing his way to a 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 win over Mateo Vereau.   

Idaho saw its comeback come up short as Vivek Ramesh fell to Alex Lin 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 6 spot, clinching the Cougars match win. Mario Duron Garza went unfinished at No. 5, as he split the first two sets (7-6, 3-6) and led 2-1 in the third.

NEXT UP: The Vandals will make its first appearance in conference action this season when they travel to take on Weber State on Saturday, March 19 at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time.  

"Our conference is going to be tough this year. Every team is good. I'm looking forward to Weber State, they are a tough team - we are going to have to bring our A-game if we want to go all the way this year."

RESULTS

Brigham Young University 4, University of Idaho 2

Singles Competition
1. Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Francisco Gay (IDA) 6-2, 6-1
2. Francisco Bascon (IDA) def. Matheus Ferreira Lei (BYU) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
3. Bruno Casino (IDA) def. Mateo Vereau (BYU) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
4. Dominik Jakovljevic (BYU) def. Matteo Masala (IDA) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
5. Otto Schreiner (BYU) vs. Mario Duron Garza (IDA) 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 1-2
6. Alex Lin (BYU) def. Vivek Ramesh (IDA) 6-2, 6-3

Doubles Competition
1. Wally Thayne and Tennyson Whiting (BYU) def. Francisco Bascon and Bruno Casino (IDA) 6-3
2. Matheus Ferreira Lei and Mateo Vereau (BYU) def. Matteo Masala and Alex Asenov (IDA) 7-5
3. Otto Schreiner and Alex Lin (BYU) vs. Francisco Gay and Mario Duron Garza (IDA) 4-4

Match Notes
Order of finish: Singles -- 1 4 2 3 6 ; Doubles -- 1 2
Start Time: 5 p.m.
Duration: 3:40

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