BYU picked to finish third in WCC preseason poll

PROVO, Utah--The West Coast Conference recently announced No. 45 BYU men’s tennis was picked to finish third in the 2014 preseason coaches poll.

 

“I’m delighted our conference peers have so much confidence in our abilities,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “We’re a young team, but we’re going to strive to win every match. We’re going to take it one match at a time.”

 

The Cougars received 61 total points in the poll, just behind No. 41 San Diego with 73 points. Last year’s champion No. 12 Pepperdine is picked to be the 2014 conference champion.

 

Three players are returning from 2013, including junior captain Francis Sargeant. Last year, Sargeant was All-WCC First Team in doubles. 

 

With a 15-6 singles record through the fall and January, Sargeant will lead a roster that includes eight freshmen. Freshmen Matthew Pearce and Juan Canales have each compiled 3-1 records in 2014, while newcomer Aidan Carrazedo is 3-1. BYU is 4-2 on the young season.

 

“We’re certainly not going to rule ourselves out of any match against any opponent,” Pearce said. “We’ll prepare to compete for a conference championship. We have a hard road out ahead of us, and we can’t take anything for granted. We’re going to fight for every single match.”

 

In 2013, BYU finished in second place in the WCC standings going 7-1 in conference and 21-7 overall.

 

Conference play begins for the Cougars when they travel to Stockton, Calif., to play Pacific on March 21.