PROVO -- Saturday was a successful day for the Cougars at the Utah Fall Tennis Classic, with BYU head coach Brad Pearce winning the singles tournament, and senior Jonathan Sanchez and sophomore Cassidy Mears earning the doubles title.
In the singles semifinals James Ludlow fell to former teammate Ivan Kokurin. Meanwhile, Pearce challenged true freshman Thomas Shubert, winning 7-6, 6-4.
Playing in the final match of the tournament, Pearce came out strong, winning the first four games of the set. Kokurin came back fighting in the second set, but was never able to increase his lead to more than one game.
With the score tied 3-3 Pearce won the next game and never looked back. He went on to win the set 6-3, securing his singles tournament victory. Upon accepting his title, Pearce declined the prize and offered it to Kokurin instead.
"I've never worked so hard to win a tournament or match and not get paid," said Pearce. "[Ivan] played a really good match. I had to dig really deep."
In doubles play, Sanchez and Mears came from behind to win the tournament and beat their freshman teammates Daniel Hwang and Evan Urbina. Down by one game halfway through the set, a back-and-forth battle ensued before the veterans clinched the victory with a score of 9-7.
"I think Jon [Sanchez] and I work well together," said Mears. "The new guys were playing well. I feel like I didn?t return well, but we showed our maturity out there."
Pearce said he was pleased with the overall results of the doubles match.
"As a coach it's always a pleasure to see an all BYU finals," he said.
At the close of the tournament, the Cougars will now prepare for the remainder of the fall season. With a young team, Mears says there is still more work to be done.
"We have such a young team and I think we're really going to have to work hard," he says. "I think the team chemistry is good. I think [the freshman are] all talented. This weekend they showed that they can really play tennis."
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