SAN DIEGO – Freshman Shane Monroe led BYU men’s tennis to a 4-1 victory over Saint Mary’s Wednesday in San Diego to advance to the second round of the West Coast Conference Tournament.
'It was great to get back in the win column today," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "After dropping the doubles point, our guys responded in singles the way we have been looking for all season. They built and extended leads then finished off their matches when they had match points."
The Cougars (10-17) fell behind 1-0 early when the Gaels (4-18) captured the doubles point. Jacob Sullivan and Shane Monroe played for BYU at No. 1 doubles but fell 8-4 to Thomas Hunt and Arthur Weber of Saint Mary’s. Francis Sargeant and Juan Canales evened up the doubles score from the No. 2 slot with an 8-6 win over James Markiewicz and Wil Martin. The Gaels closed out the doubles point at No. 3 where Jacob Lagman and Samuel Bloore beat the Cougars’ David Ball and Aidan Carrazedo 8-5.
BYU bounced back in singles to take control of the match winning four consecutive matchups in straight sets to win 4-1 overall. Monroe was first off the court at no. 2 singles after a 6-2, 6-4 victory. Carrazedo gave the Cougars their first lead of the match, winning 6-2, 6-2 over Lagman at the No. 5 slot.
Up 2-1, Sullivan and Ball closed out the match for BYU with wins at No. 3 and 6 singles. Sullivan outplayed Hunt to a 6-4, 6-3 victory at No. 3 then Ball clinched the match for the Cougars with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Matthew Campana. Sargeant and Canales were both in the second set but did not finish before the match was called.
"We are going to build off this and come out tomorrow ready to play against Pepperdine," Pearce said.
BYU advances to face the No. 2 seed, No. 42 Pepperdine, Thursday at 3 p.m. PDT. Live scoring is available through the men’s schedule page.
Brigham Young vs Saint Mary's College
Apr 22, 2015 at San Diego, Calif.
Brigham Young 4, Saint Mary's 1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,5,3,6)