Four Cougars named ITA Scholar-Athletes

Junior Francis Sargeant and freshmen Juan Canales, Matthew Pearce and Robin Pfister were all named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athletes. This is the second consecutive year BYU athletes have been recognized.

To receive the honor, a student-athlete must fulfill three criteria – the athlete must be a varsity letter winner, have a grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) for the current academic year and have been enrolled at his present school for at least two semesters.

“I’m proud of these players for getting it done both on the court and in the classroom,” said head coach Brad Pearce. “After all, they are student-athletes.”

The Cougars are preparing for another season and will look to build on last year’s fifth place finish in the WCC. Sargeant, entering his senior season, continues to rise in the record books for singles victories in BYU history. He currently has the eighth most wins by a Cougar of all time with 80 victories. He would need 44 victories to break the all-time BYU record.

BYU opens a fall season in September with the Utah Fall Tennis Classic here in Provo before beginning its regular season and West Coast Conference play in January.