Box Score
SPOKANE, Wash.—The Gonzaga University men's tennis team faced a pesky BYU squad Friday, grinding out a big 4-3 win over the Cougars at The Stevens Center in Spokane.
"What a great team effort today," said Gonzaga head coach Peter MacDonald. "We played great doubles to open the match, and watching Vladimir Mijatovic step up and clinch the win for the team in the third set tiebreak was intense. That was a big win for this program, and I'm so happy for the guys."
Mijatovic won the clinching point for Gonzaga, taking the final singles match to finish. He beat opponent Jeremy Bourgeois 6-3 in the first set but fell 5-7 in the second. The two went to a tiebreak in the third set, where Mijatovic kicked into another gear, winning the tiebreak 7-1 and clinching the Zags' second conference win.
The two teams traded points all match with Gonzaga beginning the day by taking the doubles point. At No. 3 doubles, Joey Brandt and Sergio Chip started things off with a 6-3 win and Nick Kamisar and Alvaro Nazal clinched the initial point with a 6-4 win on court two. The Cougars took the pairs match on court three, and BYU then evened up the match once singles play started when Aiden Carrazedo beat Vicente Varas 6-2, 6-1.
All other singles matches each went to a third set, and those matches also saw four tiebreaks played. Nazal re-gained the lead for GU with a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 win atop the lineup. The Santiago, Chile, native picked up his 25th singles win of the year and is just two wins away from tying his own program record of 27, which he set in 2012-13.
The Cougars countered when Shane Monroe edged Kamisar in three sets on court two, and they took a 3-2 lead when Juan Canales beat Chip on court five.
Hayden Smith evened up the team match in the next contest to finish, coming back from a one-set deficit to beat Jacob Sullivan. The Breakfast Point, Australia native lost the first set 0-6, but he came back to take the second via a tiebreak at 7-6 (2). He went up a break in the third set and hung on for the 0-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 win, allowing Mijatovic to follow up with the match winner.
With the victory, the Zags (10-7, 2-4 WCC) reached double-digit dual wins for the first time since 2009. They will close out their home season Saturday, April 11, with a 12:00 p.m. contest against San Diego. Five Zags will be playing their final collegiate dual at The Stevens Center Saturday as Brandt, Chip, Kamisar, Mijatovic, and Nazal will all be graduating in May. A brief Senior Day ceremony will be held prior to the match and start around 11:50 a.m.
