Netters upset No. 37 Santa Clara

PROVO, Utah – In a game that came down to the wire, the No. 50 BYU men’s tennis team upset the No. 37 Santa Clara Broncos 4-3 on Saturday in front of a large crowd at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

The win against Santa Clara (4-3, 0-1 West Coast Conference) marks the first BYU (7-2, 1-0 WCC) victory over a conference opponent this season and the third over a ranked team.

“It was a good match for us, Santa Clara is a good team,” head coach Brad Pearce said. “It was a good win not only because we beat a conference opponent, but a highly ranked conference opponent that has great wins over good programs already this year.”

The Broncos started the match strong, winning all three doubles matches, but the Cougars fought back to win four of the six singles matchups to secure the victory.

With the score tied at three, freshman Andrey Goryachkov earned a standing ovation as he defeated Eugene Muchynski 6-4, 7-5 in a closely contested match to give BYU the 4-3 edge.

Junior Patrick Kawka, who was recently named the WCC Player of the Month for January, upset No. 65 John Lamble 7-6(0), 6-3 on Court 1.

Sophomore Keaton Cullimore finished first as he quickly topped Tom Pham 6-3, 6-1 on Court 4. Francis Sargeant, who was the third to finish, also won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, to give BYU a 3-1 advantage.

Senior Spencer Smith won his first set but went on to lose in three, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

The Cougars host the UNLV Rebels next Friday, Feb. 15, at 5:30 p.m. MST at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

Doubles

1.  Kecki/Osintsev (SCU) def. Kawka/Sargeant (BYU) 8-7(3)

2.  Lamble/Muchynski (SCU) def. Fillmore/Smith (BYU) 8-5

3.  Khacharyan/Pham (SCU) def. Cullimore/Pearce (BYU) 8-6

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1

Singles

1. Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. No. 65 John Lamble (SCU) 7-6(0), 6-3

2. Ilya Osintsev (SCU) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-7, 6-3, 6-4

3. Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Matt Kecki (SCU) 6-4, 6-1

4. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Tom Pham (SCU) 6-3, 6-1

5. Ashot Khacharyan (SCU) def. John Pearce (BYU) 7-6, 6-4

6. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) def. Eugene Muchynski (SCU) 6-4, 7-5

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