PROVO, Utah -- Captain Francis Sargeant and freshman Jacob Sullivan set the tone with their singles wins in BYU men’s tennis' 6-1 victory over No. 75 Portland, Saturday.

 

“I want to give a lot of credit to Portland,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “They had a tough road to hoe, so to speak, playing in San Diego yesterday, and I thought they gave it a good battle today. I was impressed by that.”

 

The Cougars (10-14, 4-5 WCC) began the day continuing their momentum from Friday’s win, sweeping all three doubles contests against the Pilots (12-8, 5-4 WCC).

 

The freshman Sullivan posted the win at No. 5 singles by being the first off the court. The Australian edged Alex Wallace in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7-4).

 

Sargeant was close behind with a two-set victory of his own at first singles, stifling Michel Hu Kwo 6-4, 6-0.

 

The clincher came in sixth singles as Aidan Carrazedo edged Kent Andreasen. The South African native took the first set 6-1 prior to falling in the second 3-6. He bounced back in the third to secure the point and the WCC win, 6-1.

 

“I was impressed that in a few situations, our guys really dug in and didn’t let anything get easy for them,” coach Pearce said. “To beat a good team 6-1--Portland’s a very good team--I was really pleased with that.”

 

After the match was secured, the Cougars continued to battle as they took two of the remaining matchups.

 

No. 2 singles player Andrey Goryachkov was down a set and a break, but clawed back. The sophomore fell 4-6 in the first, but evened the score in the second, 7-6 (7-1). In the final set, he found himself down 2-4 and stormed back for the 6-4 win.

 

From the fourth singles slot, freshman Matthew Pearce found himself down 3-5 in the first set, but came back to take it 7-5. After falling in the second, Pearce swung the momentum back his way against Justin Guay for the 6-1 win.

 

The one-sided team victory follows Friday’s 7-0 win over Gonzaga and gives the Cougars a lift before the conference tournament.

 

“We’ve been looking for some momentum and I think we’re going to go in and play with more confidence than we have been,” coach Pearce said. “I think we’re going to be a dangerous team. I also have to give our guys credit: to perform the way they did during final exams, with the late nights and early mornings, I think they did a terrific job. We’re looking forward to not having this be our last win. Whoever we face, we’ll be ready.”

 

The BYU roster this season includes eight freshmen, two sophomores and one junior.

 

"I would like to add that today's result was also about the improvement of our young players," coach Pearce said. "Portland was a very good team with a lot of seniors. We were tough and good today. I was very pleased with the obvious improvement and that it bodes well for the future."

 

The WCC Championships begins Wednesday in San Diego. Seedings will be released after the weekend’s action concludes. 

 

 

Brigham Young 6, No. 75 Portland 1

 

 Singles competition 

1. SARGEANT, Francis (BYU) def. HU KWO, Michel (POR) 6-4, 6-0

2. GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU) def. DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) 4-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4

3. GILL, Ratan (POR) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-1

4. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. GUAY, Justin (POR) 7-5, 0-6, 6-1

5. SULLIVAN, Jacob (BYU) def. WALLACE, Alex (POR) 6-1, 7-6 (7-4)

6. CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU) def. ANDREASEN, Kent (POR) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1

 

 Doubles competition 

1. GORYACHKOV, Andrey/PFISTER, Robin (BYU) def. ANDREASEN, Kent/DeLAUBENFELS, Reid (POR) 8-3

2. SARGEANT, Francis/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. HU KWO, Michel/GUAY, Justin (POR) 7-6 (7-5)

3. SULLIVAN, Jacob/BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) def. WALLACE, Alex/GILL, Ratan (POR) 8-3

 

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,1,6,3,2,4)

PROVO, Utah -- The BYU men’s tennis team returns home to wrap up its West Coast Conference regular season with matches against Gonzaga Friday at 11 a.m. MDT and No. 75 Portland Saturday at 1 p.m., at the Outdoor Tennis Courts.

 

“We've discussed a "home stand" to get some momentum heading into the WCC tournament next week,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We believe we can surprise some teams in San Diego. It will help a great deal to get a boost from two home wins this weekend.”

 

The Cougars (8-14, 2-5 WCC) will face the Bulldogs (9-11) who are 0-7 in the WCC so far and are coming off a 5-2 home loss to San Francisco last weekend. BYU holds the 2-0 advantage in all-time meetings. 

 

The team will play its home finale against the 75th-ranked Pilots who are 12-6 with a 5-2 WCC record where they currently stand in second place behind Pepperdine and San Diego., The Cougars have never lost in the six meetings between the two teams.

 

Live stats will be available for both of the matches on the BYU Athletics website, BYUCougars.com.

 

BYU will continue its season next week, making a run in the WCC Championships April 23-26.