BYU tennis swept the finals on Sept. 14 in the men's Utah Fall Classic tournament, hosting players from across the country.
The tournament consisted of a men's open single and doubles tournament. BYU sophomore Andrey Goryachkov and BYU junior Francis Sargeant steadily advanced through the men's open singles ranks to face off in the final round. Sargeant and Goryachkov were seeded 1 and 2 respectively.
After a fierce two-set match, Goryachkov beat Sargeant 7-5 and 6-2. No clear winner emerged at the beginning of the first set, with both players trading off winning every other game. Many of the games were won after a tug-of-war in scoring.
Goryackov started gaining momentum after winning his fourth game against Sargeant. Despite Sargeants' attempts at rushing the net, Goryackov managed to return the balls swiftly and accurately.
Goryackov's first set victory helped him remain predominantly in the lead for the duration of the second set. Goryackov won the first two games, and then the final three after Sargent took the third.
'It was a really good match, and Sargeant played really well.' Goryackov said.
Sargeant said he struggled with remaining consistent throughout the match.
'Andrey played a really good match in the singles,' he said. 'I was struggling a bit with consistency.'
Head coach Brad Pearce was proud of both his BYU players.
'I think Francis was the favorite today, but Andrey came out to win' Pearce said.
Despite his loss in the singles, Sargeant returned with his fellow teammate Sterling Galli to win the doubles tournament against BYU sophomore Justin Archer and Cameron Lee 8-4.
'It was a bit disappointing losing the singles, but I was able to bounce back for the doubles and played a lot better,' Sargeant said.
Galli and Sargeant were able to quickly gain a lead against Lee and Archer and held onto it for the duration of the match. When Galli and Sargeant won seven games, Lee and Archer started to push back and delay Galli and Sargeant's win for three more games.
'They played well and were serving well, we had to keep the returns low so we could hit the volley and poach,' Galli said.
When asked about the upcoming season in January, Pearce said the team needs to improve in every aspect to be ready for the season.
Galli, one of the four new freshmen on the BYU tennis team is excited for the matches to come.
'I love being out here and being a part of the BYU team' he said.