PROVO, Utah – The No. 59 San Francisco men's tennis team suffered its first defeat at the hands of a conference foe, falling 4-2 at BYU on Wednesday afternoon at the Outdoor Tennis Courts.

The first setback of the conference slate for the Dons, USF now stands at 8-5 on the year, and 2-1 in West Coast Conference action. Meanwhile, BYU evens its record to a 9-9 mark and the Cougars are 2-0 in league play.  

The Dons made quick work of their opponents in doubles action, despite the pair swapping in the lineup. Playing from the No. 1 position, the tandem of Bernardo Saraiva and Thomas Takemoto got USF out of the gate with the 6-1 win. Close behind, the No. 2 pairing of Nils Skajaa and Vasco Valverde clinched the doubles point after taking a 6-2 victory.

USF opened singles play with first-set wins on the top three courts, while BYU edged to a 2-1 lead after straight set wins at Nos. 5 and 6. Saraiva evened the match score at 2-all after taking the point on Court 1. A stellar second set allowed the senior from Lisbon, Portugal, to ease to the 7-6(4), 6-1 win over BYU's Francis Sargeant.

Despite stretching their competition to three sets, James Tallman's loss at No. 3 was followed by Skajaa's 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4 defeat from the racquet of BYU's No. 2 Shane Monroe as the Cougars clinched the win.

"Credit to BYU for digging deep and beating us in singles today," USF head coach Pablo Pires de Almeida said. "Our guys fought hard in the conditions and had winning moments in a lot of matches. This is a tough one, but we will bounce back!"

USF will have a short window in which to regroup on the road. Next, the Dons take on Utah State on Friday morning, and first serve from the courts in Logan, Utah, is slated for 10 a.m. PT.
 

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BYU 4, No. 59 USF 2
Singles | Order of finish: 6, 5, 1, 3, 2*
No. 1 – Bernardo Saraiva (USF) def. Francis Sargeant (BYU); 7-6(4), 6-1
No. 2 – Shane Monroe (BYU) def. Nils Skajaa (USF); 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) def. James Tallman (USF); 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 – Thomas Takemoto (USF) vs. Jacob Sullivan (BYU); 3-6, 7-6(4), 4-4 [SUSPENDED]
No. 5 – Jeremy Bourgeois (BYU) def. Vasco Valverde (USF); 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 – Aidan Carrazedo (BYU) def. Alex Santiago (USF); 6-2, 6-1
 
Doubles | Order of finish: 1, 2
No. 1 – Saraiva/Takemoto (USF) def. Goryachkov/Sullivan (BYU); 6-1
No. 2 – Skajaa/Valverde (USF) def. Monroe/Sargeant (BYU); 6-2
No. 3 – Tallman/Santiago (USF) def. Ball/Bourgeois (BYU); 4-4 [SUSPENDED]