PROVO, Utah – In the first match of the 2016 campaign, the Northern Arizona University men's tennis team battled on the road with regional foe Brigham Young University, who remains undefeated (6-0) on the season.  Competing for NAU were sophomores Felix Schumann, Jackson Lee and Eden Peleg and freshmen Tim Handel, Ruben Montano, Thomas Fisher and Lucas Taylor. 

"We competed pretty well and had a lot of close matches," Head Coach Ki Kroll said. "I'm happy with how well we competed; BYU is just a better team than us right now."

Although the Cougars walked away with the doubles point to kick off the dual, and Northern Arizona got off to a slow start in singles play, Schumann was relentless on court four against BYU's Jacob Sullivan. Schumann stole the first set 6-3, but would fall short the following two sets to give the Cougars their fourth singles win of the evening.

"Felix [Schumann] lost in a heart breaker," Kroll noted. "He was right there the whole match. I was really proud of how tough he competed."

Rounding out singles play on courts five and six were Peleg and Lee, who were toppled by John Pearce and Jeremy Bourgeois, respectively. In facing a total of six opponents now, BYU has only dropped a combined two points in 2016: one doubles point against Nevada and a singles point versus Hawaii.

The Lumberjacks will have a quick turnaround facing another undefeated Utah squad (5-0) tomorrow, Jan. 30. The match is set to begin at 12 p.m. MST at Eccles Tennis Center in Salt Lake City.

Results

Doubles

1. Jeremy Bourgeois/Shane Monroe (BYU) def. Ruben Montano/Tim Handel (NAU)  6-2
2. Jacob Sullivan/Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) def. Lucas Taylor/Felix Schumann (NAU) 5-3
3. John Pearce/Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Eden Peleg/Thomas Fisher (NAU) 6-2

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles

1. Shane Monroe (BYU) def. Tim Handel (NAU) 6-4, 6-0
2. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Ruben Montano (NAU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Andre Goryachkov (BYU) def. Lucas Taylor (NAU) 6-3, 6-4
4. Jacob Sullivan (BYU) def. Felix Schumann (NAU) 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (10-8)
5. John Pearce (BYU) def. Eden Peleg (NAU) 6-3, 6-4
6. Jeremy Bourgeois (BYU) def. Jackson Lee (NAU) 6-3, 6-2

Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6