Fillmore and Sargeant still alive in ITA Men's Regionals

LAS VEGAS – BYU’s double duo of Travis Fillmore and Francis Sargeant advanced to the quarterfinals in the ITA Mountain Regional Championships at the Darling Tennis Center in Las Vegas.

 “It’s been a great few days for Cougar tennis,” head coach Brad Pearce said. “With two of our most experienced players out with injuries, I’m proud of how well our other players have stepped up and handled their matches.”

Fillmore and Sargeant started strong in doubles defeating Zach Drost and Andrew MacFarlane from Montana. The next victory came against Northern Arizona’s Patrick Schimmelbauer and Dominic Bermudez, 8-4. Friday, BYU’s team topped Utah State’s Brandon Nielsen and Fredrik Peterson, 8-6.

The duo will play their quarterfinal match against Utah’s Slim Hamza and Devin Lane Saturday at noon.

In the earlier rounds beginning Wednesday, Sophomore Keaton Cullimore and freshman John Pearce made up the other BYU team to participate in doubles. After a bye in the first round, the two advanced to the Round of 16 by first overcoming Utah’s Rafael Davidian and Ben Tasevac, 8-4. In the next round, they fell to Abid Akbar and Marius Cirstea from Idaho, 9-7.

In Thursday’s competition in singles play, Sargaent, Travis Fillmore, Cullimore and Pearce all advanced to the Round of 32. Pearce’s victory came against the No. 4 seed Jadon Phillips from New Mexico, 6-4, 7-6.

Pearce and Cullimore both won their next match to continue to the round of 16. Pearce defeated Max Krammer from Denver, 6-3, 6-4 but then lost to UNLV’s Charlie Alvarado, 6-3, 6-3.

The No. 14 seed Cullimore topped the No. 25 seed Mitch McDaniels from New Mexico, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to the Round of 16. He then fell to Denver’s Alex Clinkenbeard, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Full results from the tournament can be followed by visiting the USTA’s website.

Senior Spencer Smith and junior Patrick Kawka did not participate in the tournament due to injuries.