PROVO, Utah – The No. 52 BYU men’s tennis team put on an impressive show for Cougar fans Friday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, cruising past Idaho State, 7-0, and Montana State, 6-1. 

“I thought our week of practice really paid off,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We took the intensity up a few notches with morning and afternoon practices. I was really pleased to see such immediate results. I think getting two wins under our belts really helps to get the bad taste of losses out of our mouth.”

The Cougars (3-4) started the day off with a strong performance against Idaho State (1-3), sweeping the Bengals, 7-0.

First off the courts for BYU was No. 43 Georgy Batrakov, who blew through his sets on Court 1 against Charles Norman for a straight 6-0, 6-0 finish.

Junior Spencer Smith won four straight games to take his first set against Nate Gross, 6-4. Smith, playing at the No. 2 position, pressed on to secure the second singles point for the Cougars with a 6-2 victory in the second set.

No. 67 Keaton Cullimore, a freshman from Sandy, Utah, made quick work of his opponent at the No. 3 position. Cullimore’s 6-0, 6-3 win over Krzyzstof Stempien gave the Cougars their fourth point and secured the BYU win.

Freshmen Francis Sargeant, Dean Ormsby and David Doehring all topped their respective Idaho State opponents in straight sets. No match was pushed to a third set.

BYU rolled through the doubles competition taking all three matches. Batrakov and Patrick Kawka were first off the court for the Cougars, only dropping one game at the No. 1 doubles position, defeating Norman and Dakota Pate 8-1.

After being tied 4-4, Sargeant and Smith made a run against Gross and Dan Buckingham to take the match 8-5. Cullimore and Ormsby topped off a successful doubles showing with an 8-4 victory over Austin Miller and Stempien on Court 3.

The Cougars carried the momentum from the Idaho State win to the second match of the day, where BYU posted a 6-1 victory over Montana State (2-3).

Sargeant quickly scored the first BYU singles point with his 6-2, 6-0 win on Court 4.

Smith’s Court 1 victory over Niklas Brandes (6-3, 6-3) moved the Salt Lake City native’s dual singles record to 5-2 – the best on the team.

No. 106 Kawka, at the No. 2 position, and Travis Fillmore, at the No. 6 position, both topped their respective opponents with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 score. 

At the No. 5 singles position, Ormsby battled his way back from a 6-4 first set loss to take the second set by the same score. Despite Ormsby’s effort, the Australian native was unable to top Lander Jewett, falling 6-4, 4-6, (10-7).  

The BYU doubles showing against Montana State was just as impressive. Playing on Court 2, Smith and Sargeant were the first off the courts for the Cougars with a quick 8-2 victory over Diego Campos and Alberto Fuentes.  

Batrakov and Kawka only dropped three doubles games during Friday play with an 8-2 win over Brandes and Markus Schleuter at the No. 1 position.

After a back-and-forth battle on Court 3, Cullimore and Ormsby topped Lander Jewett and Prithiv Sivasubramaniam 8-6. The newly-formed duo is now 3-0 on the season.

BYU now prepares to travel to California to take on perennial powerhouse No. 6 Stanford Friday Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m. PST at the Taube Tennis Center.

No. 52 BYU: 7

Idaho State: 0
 

Singles competition:

1. No. 43 Georgy Batrakov (BYU) def. Charles Norman (Idaho), 6-0, 6-0
2. Spencer Smith (BYU) def. Nate Gross (Idaho), 6-3, 6-2
3. No. 67 Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Krzyzstof Stempien (Idaho), 6-0, 6-3
4. Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Dan Buckingham (Idaho), 6-1, 6-4
5. Dean Ormsby (BYU) def. Andres Coello (Idaho), 6-4, 6-0
6. David Doehring (BYU) def. Dakota Pate (Idaho), 7-6(7-3), 6-4
 

Doubles competition

1. G. Batrakov/P. Kawka (BYU) def. C. Norman/D. Pate (Idaho), 8-1
2. F. Sargeant/S. Smith (BYU) def. N. Gross/D. Buckingham (Idaho), 8-5
3. K. Cullimore/D. Ormsby (BYU) def. A. Miller/K. Stempien (Idaho), 8-4
 

Match Notes:

Idaho State: 1-3
BYU: 2-4; National ranking #49
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,3,4,5,6)

No. 52 BYU: 6

Montana State: 1
 

Singles competition:

1. Spencer Smith (BYU) def. Niklas Brandes (MSU), 6-3, 6-3
2. No. 106 Patrick Kawka (BYU) vs. Markus Schleuter (MSU), 6-1, 6-1
3. No. 67 Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Alberto Fuentes (MSU), 6-0, 6-3
4. Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Prithiv Sivasubramaniam (MSU), 6-2, 6-0
5. Lander Jewett (MSU) def. Dean Ormsby (BYU), 6-4, 4-6, (10-7)
6. Travis Fillmore (BYU) def. Martin-Marilles (MSU), 6-1, 6-1
 

Doubles competition:

1. G. Batrakov/P. Kawka def. N. Brandes/M. Schleuter, 8-2
2. S. Smith/F. Sargeant def. D. Campos/A. Fuentes, 8-2
3. K. Cullimore/D. Ormsby def. L. Jewett/P. Sivasubramaniam, 8-6
 

Match Notes:

Montana State: 2-3
BYU: 3-4; National ranking #49
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3), Singles (4,1,3,2,6,5)

PROVO, Utah – Looking to turn its season around, the No. 49 BYU men’s tennis team returns home to take on Idaho State and Montana State in a doubleheader Friday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

“To keep it simple; we’re looking forward to getting wins,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “Our record easily could have been 4-1 at this point. We had opportunities against UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and Vanderbilt to win. We instituted early morning workouts starting this morning. We’re going to continue that and give our guys some time and a little extra attention and see if that will improve their confidence. Hopefully that will translate into some wins.”

Coming off tough losses to No. 36 Vanderbilt and No. 52 Cal Poly, the Cougars (1-4) look to break their four-game losing streak this weekend.

BYU owns an all-time winning record against both Big Sky Conference teams. The Cougars are 17-5 against the Idaho State Bengals (1-2) and have only dropped one match to the Montana State Bobcats (1-2) in their fourteen meetings.

BYU last faced Idaho State on Feb. 18, 2009 when the Cougars topped the Bengals, 7-0, at home. In its last matchup, BYU swept Montana State, 7-0, on Feb. 3, 2011.

“Every college team in the country has good players,” Pearce said. “I think the key is to be ready to play at every single position. I feel confident going in but that doesn’t mean we’re going to take anyone for granted. Hopefully we can right this ship and get it on the right keel.”

Idaho State is entering Provo after a 3-4 loss to Montana, Jan. 27.

With a 2-3 record in dual matches, No. 43 Georgy Batrakov looks for success at the No. 1 singles position for BYU after falling to two ranked opponents last weekend. Charles Norman is 0-2 at the No. 1 singles position for Idaho State.

Idaho State’s Krzyzstof Stempien and Andres Coello are undefeated at the No. 4 and 6 positions, respectively. 

BYU has two other ranked players in No. 67 Keaton Cullimore and No. 106 Patrick Kawka. Playing at the No. 4 position, freshman Cullimore is 12-7 overall and 2-3 in dual matches. Sophomore Kawka is 14-7 and 1-0 at the No. 2 position, and 2-2 when playing on court three.

Junior Spencer Smith leads the team in wins with a 16-4 record. Smith plays at the No. 2 position for the Cougars.

Montana State travels to Utah to face Utah State Thursday before heading to Provo Friday.

BYU kicks off Friday play against Idaho State at noon before taking on Montana State at 5:30 p.m. MST.

As always at home matches, pizza and prizes will be provided. Spectators may park in the “Y Lot” parking lots to the northwest and southwest of the courts after 4 p.m. Admission is free.