Sargeant, Goryachkov and all doubles pairs survive first day at ITA Regionals

LAS VEGAS-- All doubles teams notched victories and two players advanced to the third round as the BYU men's tennis team wrapped up its first day of competition at the USTA/ITA Mountain Region Championships at the Darling Tennis Center, Wednesday.

"We got everyone through to the next round in doubles which was a real positive for the day," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "Our two seasoned players, Sargeant and Goryachkov, advanced through two rounds of singles today, while freshman Jeremy Bourgeois upset the No. 25th seed. Our freshmen are learning how to compete harder; in time, we believe they will start playing better."

Doubles competition led off the day as every BYU player advanced. The team of Sterling Galli and Jacob Sullivan topped New Mexico State’s Liam Goldberg and Marc Westgate in a close match, 8-7. Jeremy Bourgeois  and Juan Canales defeated Northern Arizona’s Kester Black and Fabio Tomasetti, 8-3. 

The team of BYU’s Nikki Rae and New Mexico’s Bryan Cunningham ousted Weber State’s Cao Poitena and James Smith, 8-2. The No. 2 seed Goryachkov and Sargeant advanced  with a bye. The No. 6 overall seed Francis Sargeant, advanced to the third round in singles with a first-round bye and a two-set victory in the second round. He beat Northern Arizona's Kester Black, 6-4, 6-4. 

The Cougars also faired well with No. 22 seed Andrey Goryachkov defeating Abe Hewko of Boise State, 6-0, 7-5. The BYU sophomore then beat Air Force's Lucas Fumagalli, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1.

Also winning in the first round was newcomer Jeremy Bourgeois. The freshman outlasted the No. 25 seed, Air Force's Grant Taylor, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. He then fell to Northern Arizona's Jordan Gobatie, 7-5, 3-6, 6-2.

In other singles action, freshmen Juan Canales and Sterling Galli were each ousted in the first round. Canales fell to New Mexico's Mads Hegelund, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6, and  Galli was defeated by Jamey Swiggart of Idaho State, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Fellow freshman Jacob Sullivan also was downed in the first round, losing to Ethan Vaughn of  Montana, 6-3, 6-1.Sophomore Nikki Rae could not overcome his opponent's play in the third set, losing to Nevada's Quentin Mege, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Day two of regionals begins with doubles at 9 a.m. Thursday. Tournament results can be viewed on the USTA website.

Doubles first round
Galli/Sullivan d. Goldberg/Westgate(NMSU) 8-7
Bourgeois/Canales d. Black/Tomasetti (NAU) 8-3
Rae(BYU)/Cunningham(NM) d. Poitena/Smith (WSU)
(2) Goryachkov/Sargeant (BYU) bye