PROVO, UT – BYU men's tennis remained unbeaten at home after a 4-0 victory over No. 59 Boise State on Saturday.
"This was a great rivalry match against a well-coached team with great tradition. We knew that Boise State was going to fight and make it a battle, but it felt good to win today," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "I feel like our guys really came through and overcame some adversity, especially in the doubles point. In singles, there were some ebbs and flows but no one threw in the towel and at the end of the day we were able to prevail."
The Cougars (8-1) gained momentum early after winning the doubles point to score first in the match. BYU's John Pearce and Jacob Sullivan won a 6-2 victory over Brian Foley and Pedro Platzek at the No. 3 doubles while Boise State (5-3) won at the No. 1 slot with Toby Mitchell and Kyle Butters defeating BYU's Shane Monroe and Jeremy Bourgeois, 7-5. BYU's Keaton Cullimore and Andrey Goryachkov rallied after falling behind 5-2 to defeat BSU's Abe Hewko and Lewis Roskilly 7-6 (7-4).
The Cougars stayed in control during singles with Goryachkov finishing first after a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Butters at the No. 3 slot. In fourth singles, Sullivan defeated Hewko 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0 to make the score 3-0 in favor of BYU.
Cullimore, playing at the second singles position for the Cougars, battled back after an early deficit to seal the match, winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 over BSU's Mitchell.
"Moving forward, I think that we're going to go into our match next week against Utah knowing that we've come through in a big, high-pressure situation against a rival team," Pearce said. "I think this will be really important for our future and we're going to build on this the rest of the season."
BYU will travel to Salt Lake to face Utah on Saturday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m. MST. Live stats will be available on the BYU men's schedule page.
BYU Men's Tennis 4, No. 59 Boise State 0
Singles competition
1. Monroe, Shane (BYU) vs. Brian Foley (BSU) 6-4, 2-6, 5-4, unfinished
2. Cullimore, Keaton (BYU) def. Toby Mitchell (BSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Goryachkov, Andrey (BYU) def. Kyle Butters (BSU) 6-3, 6-3
4. Sullivan, Jacob (BYU) def. Abe Hewko (BSU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0
5. Pearce, John (BYU) vs. Pedro Platzek (BSU) 4-6, unfinished
6. Lewis Roskilly (BSU) vs. Bourgeois, Jeremy (BYU) no result
Doubles competition
1. Toby Mitchell/Kyle Butters (BSU) def. Bourgeois, Jeremy/Monroe, Shane (BYU) 7-5
2. Cullimore, Keaton/Goryachkov, Andrey (BYU) def. Abe Hewko/Lewis Roskilly (BSU) 7-6 (7-4)
3. Pearce, John/Sullivan, Jacob (BYU) def. Brian Foley/Pedro Platzek (BSU) 6-2
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (3,4,2)