Sergeant helps team to first win at New Orleans

NEW ORLEANS – Senior Francis Sargeant led BYU's men's tennis team to a 5-2 victory over the University of New Orleans Saturday in its first dual match of the weekend.

“New Orleans gave us a tough battle today,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “It was nice to have Francis healthy and leading his team to a win.”

The Cougars got off to a sluggish start in doubles and fell behind 1-0 early. Sargeant and freshman Shane Monroe won their doubles match against Christoffer Appelgre and Luis Albuquerque 6-4 but BYU fell in the other two doubles matches. The duo of Robin Pfister and Andrey Goryachkov lost to Giacomo Adoncecchi and Timo Kranz 7-5 while David Ball and Jacob Sullivan were defeated by Blake Gregor and Rui Silva 6-2.

“The first match at sea level is always tough, even with a full day of preparation,” Pearce said. “I think it showed in our doubles play.”

Having lost the doubles point, BYU needed to win four of its six singles matches to win. The Cougars did not disappoint, taking five of the six and securing the match. Monroe was first off the court. Playing at No. 2 singles, he beat Silva quickly 6-1, 6-3. Ball and Jeremy Bourgeois also won in straight sets in their matches against Christoffer Appelgre (6-3, 6-4) and Giacomo Adoncecchi (7-6, 6-1), respectively.

Goryachkov battled back from 1-4 in the third set to take his match against Gonzalo Garcia 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Sullivan battled to a tiebreaker in the third set but fell to Blake Gregor 4-6, 6-2, 7-6. Playing at No. 1 singles again for the first time this season, Sargeant clinched the match for the Cougars by outplaying Timo Kranz 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 for BYU’s fourth point.

The Cougars are back in action Monday in New Orleans when they face Tulane University.