The men’s tennis team played a tough match against the Brigham Young University Cougars on Feb. 1. Unfortunately, the Buccaneers were unable to gain the advantage in the final throes of the match and lost with a score of 4-3. This is their third consecutive game on the road, with their second consecutive loss. ETSU falls 1-5 in the season with a national ranking of #62.
Both teams have had their struggles with singles play over the season, but this match went to the Bucs in that aspect.
BYU managed to obtain a 6-0 win in the No. 2 doubles slot early on, which they followed up by taking the No. 3 position 6-3.
The Blue and Gold made it clear they would not back down without a fight by taking the No. 4 singles slot. Redshirt sophomore Dimitri Badra (Maracay, Venezuela) tucked away his first win of the season by 6-1, 6-4.
The Bucs momentarily took the lead when senior Juan Lugo (Maracay, Venezuela) gained custody of the No. 3 singles position 6-4, 6-2. The Bucs upped their lead another point when junior Frazier Rengifo (Caliu, Columbia) took the No. 2 singles position 6-4, 6-3.
The Cougars pounced, taking the No. 1 and No. 5 singles matches. Junior Yusef Khamis (Cairo, Egypt), lost his first of the season when he lost the No. 1 slot. He now stands 4-1 in singles action for the season.
Junior Dylan Bednarczyk (Ontario, Canada) went into three sets against the Cougars but fell short in he 6-4 match.
The men are scheduled for a showdown against the VCU Rams for their home opener on Feb. 9 at the Dave Mullins Tennis Complex at 12 p.m. In the event of bad weather, the game will be moved to the Bristol Racquet Club.
