No. 37 Santa Clara Edged by No. 50 BYU in WCC Opener

PROVO, Utah – In its WCC Opener on Saturday, Santa Clara squared off against No. 50 BYU but came up just short in a tight 4-3 match. The Broncos are now 5-3 (all losses to top 50 teams) while BYU is 7-2. The Broncos had won three of their previous four matches, including two wins over No. 38 Boise State.

Santa Clara jumped out to a promising start, taking all three doubles matches. The Broncos switched up their doubles lineup and the move paid off immediately with the sweep. The Cougars battled back, however, taking four of six singles matches to secure to win.

At No. 1 singles, John Lamble fought hard but was bested 7-6(0), 6-3. Ilya Osintsev came up with a big win at No. 2. After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, Osintsev persevered to take the final two sets for Santa Clara's second win of the match.

Matt Kecki and Tom Pham were topped in straight sets at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.

At No. 5, freshman Ashot Khacharyan picked up the Broncos third and final win with a 7-6, 6-4 final. Khacharyan won his third straight match, boosting his overall record to 5-1. His only loss came against then-No. 20 Michigan.

BYU clinched the match with a 6-4, 7-5 win at No. 6, despite the efforts of Eugene Muchysnki.

Santa Clara concludes its streak of six consecutive matches away from the Mission Campus. The Broncos will return home next weekend to take on Sacramento State on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 10am. Santa Clara and Sonoma State will face off at 3pm later that afternoon.