PROVO, Utah - The No. 17 UCF men’s tennis team dropped a contested match Saturday evening, losing its first Big 12 away duel of the season at BYU, 4-2.
A point of emphasis for the Knights (15-6, 1-2) has been their growth in doubles play, however, in the high altitude of Provo, the Cougars (11-4, 1-2) retained serve to claim the early advantage.
Shifting up to court one, Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez couldn’t find their footing against BYU’s Zach Fuchs and Wally Thayne, while Luca Hotze and Simeon Terziev fell to a similar fate on court three. Mehdi Benchakroun and Santiago Giamichelle sat just a game away from taking court two before the contest was abandoned.
The team split the first sets to open singles play as the Knights looked to find the leveler, which would come in just over an hour. On court four, Giamichelle tallied his 100th career win at the collegiate level with a dominating 6-2, 6-2, victory over Adam Chodur. In just three seasons, the Argentinian native hit the century mark with his 52nd singles win, paired with 48 in doubles.
BYU immediately jumped back out to a lead with wins on courts two and six, as Benchakroun and Sanchez suffered straight-set defeats. Freshman Nicolas Oliveira authored one of his best performances to date as the Brazilian put the Knights within one following a 7-5, 6-3, result over Tygen Goldammer.
With the 90th-ranked Dlimi amidst a third set, Colin was striving to push his court-three duel to a similar situation, though the junior was eventually bested in a second-set tiebreak as the Cougars secured the win via Redd Owen, 6-3, 7-6.
UP NEXT
UCF will look to jump back in the win column on Sunday afternoon as it makes the short journey north to Salt Lake City for a meeting with No. 52 Utah. First serve is at 3 p.m. ET.
Singles Lineups
- #90 Yassine Dlimi (UCF) vs. Wally Thayne (BYU) 6-1, 2-6, 5-5, unfinished
- Zach Fuchs (BYU) def. #69 Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
- Redd Owen (BYU) def. Paul Colin (UCF) 6-3, 7-6
- Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. Adam Chodur (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
- Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) def. Tygen Goldammer (BYU) 7-5, 6-3
- TJ Wells (BYU) def. Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles Results
- Zach Fuchs/Wally Thayne (BYU) def. Yassine Dlimi/Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 6-1
- Mehdi Benchakroun/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) vs. Hardy Owen/Alex Edmonston (BYU) 5-3, unfinished
- Tygen Goldammer/TJ Wells (BYU) def. Luca Hotze/Simeon Terziev (UCF) 6-3