The No. 39 BYU men’s tennis team defeated No. 47 San Diego 4–3 behind the play of sophomore Francis Sargeant on Saturday just one week after suffering two defeats on the road.
“It was great to get a win over a highly ranked team, ” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “San Diego is a very good team. It’s a great win for this program and for the guys.”
The Cougars started out earning the doubles point with two match wins.
With the overall match still far from being decided, Sargeant and San Diego’s Clarke Spinosa were battling back-and-forth on court 3. Spinosa, ranked No. 82 nationally, won the first set 6–4 and then jumped out to a commanding 4–0 lead in the second set. It looked like Spinosa was well on his way to a victory for the Toreros.
Sargeant though, found a way to battle back and win three straight games to take it to 4–3. Spinosa won the next game to take it to 5–3. Sargeant then went on a tear that swung the match in his favor and in BYU’s. He won four straight games to win the second set 7–5, and then went on to win the third set in commanding fashion, 6–1. The win for Sargeant gave the Cougars a 3–1 lead.
“I just started to try and get the ball in the court,” Sargeant said. “And point by point, I worked my way back into it and got some momentum going.”
BYU sophomore Keaton Cullimore scored the winning point for BYU by defeating No. 112 Uros Petronijeciv in three sets on court 4.
With the win, the Cougars remain undefeated at home and sit atop the WCC at 2–0.
Besides Sargeant and Cullimore in singles play, Kawka, also picked up a win for the Cougars.
Kawka was dominant in his match against Thibaut Visy, winning 6–3, 6–4. Senior Spencer Smith battled Romain Kalayjian down to the wire, but lost in three sets.
The Cougars will be at home again on March 16 to take on New Mexico. After that match the Cougars will continue their WCC schedule against San Francisco on March 22 at home.
