The BYU men’s tennis team has suffered four straight road losses this season, and is taking on Idaho State and Montana State in doubleheader matches on Friday on the BYU indoor tennis courts.
Cougar coach Brad Pearce said Friday should be a good opportunity to get some wins and they are focusing on making improvements immediately.
“We’re looking for things to do to right this ship,” Pearce said.
Freshman Francis Sargeant knows the team’s losses have been close.
“On paper it looks like we’re not doing very well at all,” Sargeant said. “But we’re not too far away from beating these teams.”
Freshman Keaton Cullimore said Pearce is having the team focus on the little things and he’s glad to play at home this week.
“We’re pretty pumped up to get some momentum from being at home and get a couple wins,” Cullimore said. “We’re trying to get more energy going during our matches.”
Sargeant is looking forward to the doubleheader against teams BYU has beaten several times.
“We’ve had good history with these teams and I think if we can get two wins on Friday that will be a good confidence booster,” Sargeant said. “We know we’ve been close, and with a little more hard work we should be looking good.”
The Cougars are working hard. Pearce has implemented early morning workouts starting this week to help get his team fit for their matches.
“We have some players who have been struggling with that [finishing strong],” Pearce said. “Almost every single one of these matches we’ve lost we’ve had not just a player, but players that have been a couple games away from winning the match and the wheels have come off.”
BYU hasn’t lost to either Idaho State or Montana State since starting play with both teams in 2000. Pearce said his team will be ready to put these matches away and is looking forward to playing in front of their fans.
Tonight’s matches start at noon against Idaho State, then wrap up with Montana State at 5:30 p.m. on the indoor tennis courts. Admission is free, along with pizza for all in attendance.
