After recording the best start in program history, the Utah men’s tennis team’s winning steak stopped at 11 to start the season. On Saturday, in front of one of the largest crowds in Utah Tennis history, the No. 69 Utes (11-1) dropped their first game of the season to their rival, the BYU Cougars (9-1), 5-2.
Saturday at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center was loud, with both fanbases trading cheers and going crazy after every point. BYU fans traveled in masses from Provo, making for an intense crowd not usually found in tennis.
“It’s definitely a different feel to it because there are so many more people coming to the games,” said freshman Dan Little, who played in his first Holy War match on Saturday. “We tried to just prepare for it like a normal match. It’s tough — obviously the big crowd influences things more than I realized.”
Head coach Roeland Brateanu was pleased with the crowd energy in Salt Lake City, despite the loss.
“The atmosphere was good — I think people have seen a good show today,” Brateanu said.
In doubles, BYU’s John Pearce and Jacob Sullivan defeated Little and David Micevski on the No. 3 court, 6-2. Matt Cowley and Jamey Swiggart responded by evening up the doubles point on Court 1, beating Jeremy Bourgeois and Shane Monroe, 6-2.
But in the end, Keaton Cullimore and Andrey Goryachkov won on Court 2, beating Utah’s duo of Egbert Weverink and Santiago Sierra 6-4 to win the doubles point for the Cougars.
In singles play, Micevski tied up the match for the Utes, winning 6-2, 6-3 over Goryachkov at the No. 3 position. Soon after, however, BYU retook the lead after Monroe beat Cowley 6-4, 6-4 on the No. 1 court.
The Cougars stretched their lead to 3-1 after Sullivan squeezed out a hard-fought, three-set victory, beating Weverink 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in No. 4 singles.
Sierra provided a glimmer of hope for the Utes after he defeated Pearce in an intense three-set battle, screaming and beating his chest after he finished off Pearce 4-6, 7-6, 6-3. Sierra came back from a 5-4 deficit in the second set to close the Cougars’ lead to just one point.
Utah fans, in red, and BYU fans, in blue, gathered around court No. 5 to watch the third set of Swiggart vs. Bourgois. Swiggart narrowly won the first set 7-6, but Bourgois stormed back in the second, winning the set, 6-2. Up 6-3 in the third set, Bourgois finished Swiggart and the Utes off, clinching the upset of Utah. As BYU fans celebrated and taunted the Ute players standing behind them in the stands, the Cougars doused head coach Brad Pearce with a Gatorade bath.
“The rivalry match is always tight, and I think we didn’t play our best tennis today — we didn’t play a great match,” Brateanu said. “Congratulations to BYU — I think they took advantage of some of the matchups that were out there, played better at big points, and they came up with the win.”
The Cougars added another point to the scoreboard, making the final score BYU: 5, Utah: 2, when Cullimore defeated Little in the final match of the afternoon, an intense three-setter, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5.
“Overall, we have to have a better week at practice than we did last week,” Brateanu said. “We’re going to maybe have to make some changes in doubles and see if we can play a little better in doubles.”
Moving forward, the Utes aren’t concerned about a potential “hangover” from an emotionally draining loss going into next week.
“It’s tough, but we’re a strong team — we’ve got a deep team,” Little said. “We’ll pick each other up, and we’ll get back at it next week in New Mexico.”
Brateanu stressed that his team needs to get over the loss to the Cougars quickly.
“We’ve got bigger and better teams coming our way in the conference, so I think this is a great preparation for what’s about to come our way,” Brateanu said. “Our goals are still out there — we just gotta let this one go, learn from it, move on, and we’ll get better from it.”
The Utes will try to start a new winning streak this weekend when they travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to face the Lobos (3-10), DePaul (3-6) and New Mexico State Aggies (2-6).
j.coles@dailyutahchronicle.com
@JoeChronyColes
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