The No. 66 BYU men’s tennis team picked up its fifth win of the season in a 5-2 victory against UNLV Friday.
Junior Francis Sargeant, who is ranked no. 91 in the nation, picked up his eighth singles win of the season as he beat UNLV’s Ace Matias 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“It feels good to get a win,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “It was a tough transition to play our first outdoor match of the season in 80-degree heat, but our guys did a great job in adjusting to the heat and slower conditions, and they were hungry for a win today. We’re looking forward to tomorrow; we should be sharper and better acclimated.”
Despite playing outdoors in weather much different from Provo, the Cougars (5-5) were able to even up their record and hand the Rebels (4-1) their first loss of the season.
BYU started off the day strong by taking the doubles point, winning two of the three contests. Sargeant and sophomore Andrey Goryachkov defeated UNLV’s Denys Pume and Ace Matias 6-4. Freshmen Jeremy Bourgeois and Sterling Galli came out on top against Tamas Batyi and Dimitar Petrov for a 6-2 victory.
In the no. 2 singles spot, Goryachkov came back to beat Denys Pume 5-6 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4 after dropping the first set.
Freshmen Bourgeois and Galli won the other singles victors for BYU, with Bourgeois defeating UNLV’s Willie Sublette 6-3, 6-5 (7-5). Galli came out on top 6-5 (7-5), 6-4 against Ozzy Abraham.
The Cougars remain in Las Vegas, facing No. 53 San Diego State Saturday starting at 11:00 a.m. MDT at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.
