Sargeant beats ranked opponent in loss

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Senior Francis Sargeant beat No. 37 Or Ram-Harel in singles but BYU men’s tennis dropped its final match of the competitive BNP Paribas Open Saturday to No. 20 Tulsa 4-1.

The match was the Cougars’ (8-11, 3-0 West Coast Conference) best performance of the tournament that included six teams in the top-20 and three in the top-5 nationally. The Golden Hurricane (13-8) grabbed the doubles point but Sargeant and Shane Monroe delivered a big win playing at No. 2 doubles. They beat the No. 53 ranked duo of Alejandro Espejo and Carlos Bautista 6-2.

In singles, Sargeant maintained the high level of play. Tulsa won matches at Nos. 4-6 to clinch the match but before that happened, Sargeant won in straight sets at No. 1 singles, beating Ram-Harel 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

BYU hits the road this weekend for two WCC matches on Friday and Saturday against Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine. The Cougars are currently tied for first in the WCC with a perfect 3-0 record.