PROVO, Utah – Sophomore Jacob Sullivan clinched the 4-3 victory for BYU men’s tennis (7-2, 1-0) over a resilient Saint Mary’s (1-4, 0-1) Wednesday.

“I have to give credit to Saint Mary’s,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “They kept fighting and stuck around for the whole match and we really had to battle for this one. It was nice to see Jake get the clinching win, and it was good to get our first conference win.”

The Cougars jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead by snatching the doubles point. The BYU duos of Francis Sargeant/Andrey Goryachkov and Sullivan/David Ball both secured 6-4 victories in their matches to clinch the point. Robin Pfister and Jeremy Bourgeois were tied 5-5 in their match when it was called.

In singles play, Sullivan and Sargeant shined. Sargeant was first off the court after a dominating 6-1, 6-2 win over Thomas Hunt. The Gaels got on the board when Arthur Weber beat Shane Monroe 6-3, 6-4. The loss was Monroe’s first of the season.

The Cougars split the next two matches as Bourgeois fell to Will Martin 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) while Goryachkov defeated Samuel Bloore 6-2, 7-5. Needing only one win to clinch the match, Sullivan stepped onto the court and left no doubt. He quickly defeated Alec Wagner 6-3, 6-1 to give BYU the victory. Freshman David Ball fell in the last matchup of the evening in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4).

The Cougars head to California this weekend and put their five-match win streak on the line against No. 36 Stanford Saturday in Palo Alto.  Over the course of those five matches, BYU has outscored its opponents 33-2.

 PROVO, Utah – BYU men’s tennis (6-2, 0-0) looks to build on a four-match winning streak with two matches this week against Saint Mary’s and at No. 36 Stanford.

“We are really looking forward to this week’s matches,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “What we accomplished in our triple-header last week will give us a lot of momentum moving forward into the two upcoming contests.”

Last Friday, the Cougars played in the program’s first ever triple-header and did not disappoint. BYU didn’t drop a point winning all three matches 7-0.  Freshman Shane Monroe led the squad on Friday, winning all three of his singles matches in straight sets, including a 6-0, 6-0 dominating victory against Nebraska–Omaha. Jeremy Bourgeois also won all three of his singles matches playing at No. 2 singles.

“Conference play is always competitive and tough,” Pearce said. “Our guys are excited for conference play to start at home this week.”

BYU remains at home for its first match of West Coast Conference play, against Saint Mary’s, Wednesday, February 4 at 5:30 p.m. MST. The Gaels (1-2, 0-0) come to Provo after a 1-6 win over Sonoma State, their first win of the season. The matchup will be the league season opener for both teams. Live stats and video is available for the match on the men’s schedule page.

The Cougars then hit the road for a weekend matchup at No. 36 Stanford (1-2) Saturday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. PST. The Cardinal is also coming off of their first win of the season over UNLV. Stanford recently lost 2-4 at No. 13 Florida. A live stream will be available on Stanford’s schedule page.

“It is always a great opportunity to play a top team in the nation like Stanford,” Pearce said. “We are eager to see how we measure up.”

After their match against Stanford, the Cougars will return home for two matches on February 13 and 14 against Denver and Iowa, respectively.