Cougars have historical run at ITA Reigionals

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Four Cougars into the round of 16 and Keaton Cullimore's quarterfinal run were the highlights last week for the BYU men's tennis team at the ITA Regionals in Albuquerque. 

The four Cougars (Andrey Goryachkov, Shane Monroe, Jacob Sullivan and Cullimore) all qualified for the round of 16 on Thursday evening. The program has never seen four players make it that far in the tournament. All but Cullimore would lose in that round. 

Cullimore entered the tournament as the 31st seed. He upset the 10th seed, Boise State's Toby Mitchell, and the fourth seeded player, Utah's Parker McGuiness, to advance to the quarterfinal of the main singles draw. He lost the quarterfinal match to the eighth seed, Utah's Dan Little. This is Cullimore's first regional tournament after returning from an LDS mission to England this past summer.

Along with teammate John Pearce, Cullimore also made it to the quarterfinals of the main doubles bracket as the 10th-seeded duo. They would lose to the third seed in the quaterfinals, a team from Boise State. Teammates Jeremy Bourgeois and Juan Canales made it to the round of 16 in the draw as well before losing to a team from the University of Utah.

After losing the second round of the main draw, Bourgeois made a deep run in the singles consolation bracket, making it to the semifinals. Bourgeois would withdraw from the singles match against Denver University's Jesse Ruder-Hook, as the team does not compete in matches on Sundays.

BYU's entire team traveled to the tournament, and all nine players won a match, whether in a singles or doubles draw.

This is the last tournament for the Cougars before they begin season play in January. They will head to Hawaii Jan. 15 to face BYU-Hawaii.

For the final draws from the ITA regionals, visit http://www.golobos.com/news/2015/10/24/MTEN_1024154651.aspx