Cougars come back to remain perfect in WCC

PROVO, Utah – Freshman Shane Monroe and junior Andrey Goryachkov completed a comeback win for BYU men’s tennis as they beat No. 59 San Francisco Wednesday 4-2 to remain perfect in the West Coast Conference.

“I am really happy our guys got the win today,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “San Francisco is a great team and battled hard today. They took it to us in doubles.”

The Dons (8-5, 2-1) jumped on the board quickly in doubles to go up 1-0 in the match. On No. 1 doubles, Goryachkov and Jacob Sullivan fell to Thomas Takemoto and Bernardo Saraiva 6-1 and Francis Sargeant and Monroe lost at No. 2 6-2 to Nils Skajaa and Vasco Valverde.

“We obviously need to get doubles firing on all cylinders,” Pearce said. “I am proud of how our guys bounced back after today’s doubles.”

Aidan Carrazedo got the Cougars (9-9, 3-0) going with a fast, dominating win over Alex Santiago by a score of 6-0, 6-1. Jeremy Bourgeois gave BYU its first lead of the game when he finished off Vasco Vlaverde 6-4, 6-3. San Francisco tied it up at No. 1 singles where Bernardo Saraiva outplayed Sargeant, winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

With two more points needed, Monroe, Goryachkov and Sullivan were still on the courts. Monroe and Goryachkov both fell behind early, allowing their opponent to build a 5-1 lead. The two Cougars stormed back but fell in the first tiebreakers. The two stepped it up a notch in the second and third sets. Goryachkov, powered back to a 6-7 (7-5), 6-2, 6-3 win. With the match on the line, Monroe closed out a 6-7 (7-4), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Nils Skajaa. Sullivan’s match was called since the match had already been won.

The Cougars now head to Indian Wells, California for matchups this weekend with some of the best teams in the country. Eight teams will attend the tournament and six of those eight fall within the top 30. BYU opens up Friday against No. 3 Baylor and will play either No. 4 USC or No. 20 Tulsa on Saturday.