No. 58 BYU upsets No. 44 Columbia 4-3

NEW YORK CITY – The No. 58 BYU men’s tennis team earned its second victory in three days as it upset the No. 44 Columbia Lions 4-3 at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center on Monday.

The Cougars topped Fordham on Saturday 6-1 and then beat a ranked Columbia team on Monday, both first time wins against either school.

“We played a very good Columbia team today,” head coach Brad Pearce said. “We feel very fortunate to come home with a win.”

BYU fought hard but just missed the doubles point as junior Patrick Kawka and sophomore Francis Sargeant were edged out 8-7(8). The duo of John Pearce, a local product from Provo, and Keaton Cullimore defeated their competition 8-5.

On court 3, senior Spencer Smith and freshman Nikki Rae couldn’t overcome a tough match as they fell 8-0.

Despite being down 0-1 in doubles competition, the BYU win came as four Cougars earned victories in singles play.

“We went into singles one point behind and our guys just fought,” coach Pearce said. “I was really proud of them.”

Playing on court 1 Kawka dominated No. 44 Winston Lin in straight sets 6-0, 6-4.

On court 3, Cullimore fell to Dragos Ignat 6-2, 6-3.

Sargeant was the next Cougar to finish with a win. He took a 7-6(1), 7-6(3) decision over Eric Rubin. Pearce took three sets to defeat Max Schnur 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

Freshman Andrey Goryachkov sealed the victory for BYU in a three set match against Bert Vancura 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

BYU will participate in the ITA Kickoff Weekend this week in Los Angeles.

Doubles

1. Narayana/Schnur (CU) def. Kawka/Sargeant (BYU) 8-7 (8)

2. Pearce/Cullimore (BYU) def. Lin/Gery (CU) 8-5

3. Ignat/Rubin (CU) def. Smith/Rae (BYU) 8-0

Order of finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles

1. Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Winston Lin (CU) 6-0, 6-4

2. Ashok Narayana (CU) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3

3. Dragos Ignat (CU) def. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 6-2, 6-3

4. Francis Sargeant def. Eric Rubin (CU) 7-6(1), 7-6(3)

5. John Pearce def. Max Schnur (CU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

6. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) def. Bert Vancura (CU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 5, 2, 6