ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico -- BYU men's tennis saw four Cougars and one doubles team advance to the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively, on Thursday at the ITA Regionals in Albuquerque.
"It was a historical day today," head coach Brad Pearce said. "I was proud of the whole team. Not just of those who advanced, but all the boys who played today. All of them showed grit and determination. We may have not played our best tennis today, but a few of our players found a way to win. That's what I like to see. It was a great effort by all."
Shane Monroe, Keaton Cullimore, Andrey Goryachkov and Jacob Sullivan will all compete Friday afternoon to advance to the quarterfinal round. Cullimore is also in the quarterfinals for the doubles draw with teammate John Pearce.
Monroe, the sixth seed in the tournament, advanced after defeating Air Force's Tadhg Collins 6-3, 6-3 and New Mexico's State's Strahinja Treckakov 6-4, 7-5. He faces the No. 11 seed David Fox from Denver University Friday afternoon.
Cullimore, the No. 31 seed of the tournament, moved on after defeating Denver University's Zach Fryer 6-2, 6-1 and Boise State's Toby Mitchell 6-3, 6-2. He faces the University of Utah's Parker McGuiness, the fourth seed of the tournament. He also advanced with teammate John Pearce after defeating the team of McGuiness and Dan Little from the University of Utah 8-5. They will play the third seeds of the tournament, Boise State's Roskilly and Tenererio, Friday monring.
Goryachkov, a junior, moves on by defeating Montana's Alexander Canellopolous 6-3, 6-1 and Air Force's Lucas Fumagalli 7-6, 6-2. He faces Dan Little from the University of Utah, the eighth seed of the tournament.
Sullivan, also a junior, was the last of the Cougars to advance. He defeated Air Force's Jack McCullers 6-2, 7-5 and Utah State's Romai Ugarte 6-4, 4-3 (ret.). He will face Utah State's Jamie Barajas Friday afternoon, the 14th seed of the tournament.
Pearce and teammate Jeremy Bourgeious lost in the second round of the singles draw. Bourgeious and Juan Canales also lost in the Round of 16 to the team of Sierra and McGeehan from the University of Utah.
Updates will provided throughout the day tomorrow.