No. 49 BYU falls on the road to No. 54 Denver

DENVER—Junior Francis Sargeant and Sophomore Andrey Goryachkov edged out their opponents, but  No. 49 BYU men’s tennis fell short against No. 54 Denver, 5-2, Saturday.

 

The Cougars (4-4) fell to the regional rival Pioneers (3-1) in their fourth match this season against a nationally ranked opponent.

 

"It will be nice to have a full week of practice and be at home after three consecutive weeks on the road," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "We've experienced some adversity in losing Juan Canales for the rest of the season, but we'll regroup and focus on helping each of our young players to improve. I was happy for Francis (Sargeant), who beat the No. 1 player in the Mountain Region last night and for Andrey (Goryachkov), who won at second singles. We're looking forward to Boise State on Saturday."

 

Sargeant defeated national No. 86 Henry Craig in a back-and-forth match, 6-4 (13-15), 5-6, 10-7. Goryachkov rallied in his match, winning the final two sets against Alex Gasson, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

 

Freshmen Matthew Pearce and Robin Pfister both fell to their opponents in three sets. Pearce took the first set against Alex Clinkenbeard before falling in the final two sets, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. 

 

Pfister also came out in front after the first set, but he could not keep the momentum going his way, falling to Diogo Rocha, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Fellow freshmen Aidan Carrazedo and Jeremy Bourgeois were bested in their matches, both losing in two sets.

 

BYU returns home against No. 44 Boise State, Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MST.