No. 52 BYU dominates Friday's doubleheader

PROVO — The No. 52 BYU men’s tennis team put on an impressive show for Cougar fans on Friday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, cruising past Idaho State, 7-0, and Montana State, 6-1.

“I thought our week of practice really paid off,” BYU coach Brad Pearce said. “We took the intensity up a few notches with morning and afternoon practices. I was really pleased to see such immediate results. I think getting two wins under our belts really helps to get the bad taste of losses out of our mouth.”

The Cougars (3-4) started the day off with a strong performance against Idaho State (1-3), sweeping the Bengals, 7-0.

First off the courts for BYU was No. 43 Georgy Batrakov, who blew through his sets on Court 1 against Charles Norman for a straight 6-0, 6-0 finish.

Junior Spencer Smith won four straight games to take his first set against Nate Gross, 6-4. Smith, playing at the No. 2 position, pressed on to secure the second singles point for the Cougars with a 6-2 victory in the second set.

No. 67 Keaton Cullimore, a freshman from Sandy, Utah, made quick of his opponent at the No. 3 position. Cullimore’s 6-0, 6-3 win over Krzyzstof Stempien gave the Cougars their fourth point and secured the BYU win.

Freshmen Francis Sargeant, Dean Ormsby and David Doehring all topped their respective Idaho State opponents in straight sets. No match was pushed to a third set.

BYU rolled through the doubles competition taking all three matches. Batrakov and Patrick Kawka were first off the court for the Cougars, only dropping one game at the No. 1 doubles position, defeating Norman and Dakota Pate, 8-1.

After being tied 4-4, Sargeant and Smith made a run against Gross and Dan Buckingham to take the match 8-5. Cullimore and Ormsby topped off a successful doubles showing with an 8-4 victory over Austin Miller and Stempien on Court 3.

The Cougars carried the momentum from the Idaho State win to the second match of the day, where BYU posted a 6-1 victory over Montana State (2-3).

Sargeant quickly scored the first BYU singles point with his 6-2, 6-0 win on Court 4.

Smith’s Court 1 victory over Niklas Brandes (6-3, 6-3) moved the Salt Lake City native’s dual singles record to 5-2, the best on the team.

No. 106 Kawka, at the No. 2 position, and Travis Fillmore, at the No. 6 position, both topped their respective opponents with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 score.