LAS VEGAS--The BYU men’s tennis team fell to No. 53 San Diego State, 6-1, Saturday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex.

 

“We played a good San Diego State team,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We had opportunities at No. 1 doubles, but ended up falling a little short for the doubles point. We competed well at every position.”

 

The Cougars (5-6) fell to the Aztecs (4-2) to split the road trip to Las Vegas with one win and one loss.

 

Highlighting singles action for BYU was No. 91 Francis Sargeant. The captain topped Thorsten Bertsch in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. 

 

At second singles, Sophomore Andrey Goryachkov suffered a narrow loss to Hunter Nicholas after winning the first set, 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-1)

 

BYU fell in doubles competition as SDSU took two of three. Freshmen Robin Pfister and Matthew Pearce picked up the win at third doubles over Juan Florez and Milen Ianakiev, 6-4, while Sterling Galli and Jeremy Brougeois fell, 6-4.

 

Goryachkov and Sargeant fell at first doubles, losing in the tiebreaker, 6-5 (7-4).

 

“We’re looking forward to having a week of practice and preparing for our match against Utah,” coach Pearce said.

 

The Cougars are on the road against in-state rival Utah for the Deseret First Duel, Saturday at 5 p.m. MST.

 

 

 

 

Tennis Match Results 

Brigham Young vs San Diego State 

Feb. 15, 2014 at Las Vegas, NV 

(Fertitta Tennis Complex) 

 

#53 San Diego State 6, #66 Brigham Young 1 

 

 Singles competition 

1. #91 SARGEANT, Francis (BYU) def. Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) 6-4, 6-3 

2. Hunter Nicholas (SDSU) def. GORYACHKOV, Andrey (BYU) 4-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-1) 

3. #124 Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) def. PFISTER, Robin (BYU) 6-2, 6-4 

4. Hendrik Jebens (SDSU) def. BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 6-2, 6-2 

5. Maxi Boewer-Stelter (SDSU) def. PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) 6-3, 6-3 

6. Juan Florez (SDSU) def. CARRAZEDO, Aidan (BYU) 6-3, 6-0 

 

 Doubles competition 

1. Hunter Nicholas/Thorsten Bertsch (SDSU) def. GORYACHKOV, Andrey/SARGEANT, Francis (BYU) 6-5 (7-4) 

2. Hendrik Jebens/Freddy Gelbrich (SDSU) def. GALLI, Sterling/BOURGEOIS, Jeremy (BYU) 6-4 

3. PFISTER, Robin/PEARCE, Matthew (BYU) def. Juan Florez/Milen Ianakiev (SDSU) 6-4 

PROVO, Utah--The No. 66 BYU men’s tennis team hits the road this weekend to face UNLV and No. 53 San Diego State, Friday at noon PST and Saturday at 10 a.m., respectively, at the Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas. 

 

“The week of practice last week really helped us--We were that close to upsetting Boise State,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “Our schedule does not get any easier as we travel to Las Vegas to play UNLV and San Diego State.  Both are very good teams, but we'll be hungry for a win.”

 

BYU (4-5) is 18-12 against the Rebels (4-0) and 27-24 against the Aztecs (3-2) all-time.

 

The Cougars are eager to get back to the win column after a narrow loss to No. 45 Boise State, 4-3.

 

Leading the team is junior captain Francis Sargeant who broke into the top 100 ITA rankings Tuesday at No. 91. In Saturday’s match he beat a nationally ranked opponent for the third time this season when he downed No. 54 Andy Bettles, 6-5 (7-4), 6-3. Earlier in the season, he also beat No. 86 Henry Craig of Denver and No. 124 Nikita Fomin of George Washington.

 

Next weekend the Cougars will head up north to take on in-state rival Utah in the Deseret First Duel match Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. MST.