The BYU men's tennis team lost to No. 53 San Diego State on Saturday, despite bursts of success from both upperclassman and lowerclassman.
'We played a good San Diego State team,' BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. 'we had opportunities at No. 1 doubles, but ended up falling a little short for the doubles point. We competed well at every position.'
BYU's Francis Sargeant jumps for an overhead shot. Sargeant topped SDSU's Thorsten Bertsch in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
The Cougars' 6-1 loss came while playing away in Las Vegas, coming off beating their first opponent, UNLV, on Valentine's day. Despite losing the match, there were sporadic successes throughout the event.
BYU's No. 91 Francis Sargeant, a junior sociology major from the UK, highlighted the BYU effort by winning consecutive singles sets, 6-4, 6-3. Underclassman also had some successes Saturday, as freshman doubles duo Robin Pfister and Matthew Pearce both picked up a win at third doubles.
Despite a tough loss, the team looks forward to the next energizing challenge: the rivalry matchup against Utah.
'We're looking forward to having a week of practice and preparing for our match against Utah,' Pearce said.
After the match, the Cougars fall to 5-6 on the season and the Aztecs improve to 4-2. The Cougars' next challenge will be their Deseret First Duel opponent, at Utah, Saturday Feb. 22.