BYU tennis: Men's team gets a victory in New York City

NEW YORK CITY – The BYU men’s tennis team topped Fordham 6-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center. The Cougars (3-0) defeated the Rams (4-1) for the first time in the school’s history.

"Everybody was excited about playing today and everyone played really well," head coach Brad Pearce said. "Our guys were exhausted from traveling but they paid the price on Friday to practice and prepare for the match. I think that's a big reason why we won today."

BYU saw the first two doubles teams switched again and both came away with a win. The first duo to finish, junior Patrick Kawka and sophomore Francis Sargeant, beat Alex DeRienzo and Jan Krouham 8-1.

Next, senior Spencer Smith and junior Travis Fillmore topped Srikar Alla and Max Peara 8-3. Sophomore Keaton Cullimore and freshman John Pearce also won their match against Peder Gram and JJ Tauil 8-4.

In singles play, BYU won five out of six. In first singles, Smith fought hard but narrowly lost to Alla, 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 10-6.

Kawka quickly dismissed Gram 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 2 position. Cullimore clinched a victory over Peara 6-2, 6-3. Sareant also beat his opponent Tauil, 6-3, 6-2.

Freshmen Pearce and Andrey Goryachkov rounded out the match with victories of their own, 6-3, 6-1 and 6-1, 6-3, respectively.

BYU will stay in New York to face No. 44 Columbia on Monday at the Dick Savitt Tennis Center at 11 a.m. EST.

Doubles

1. Fillmore/Smith (BYU) def. Alla/Peara (FU) 8-3

2. Kawka/Sargeant (BYU) def. DeRienzo/Krouham (FU) 8-1

3. Cullimore/Pearce (BYU) def. Gram/Tauil (FU) 8-4

Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Singles

1. Srikar Alla (FU) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 10-6

2. Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Peder Gram (FU) 6-0, 6-2

3. Keaton Culllimore (BYU) def. Max Peara (FU) 6-2, 6-3

4. Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. JJ Tauil (FU) 6-3, 6-2

5. John Pearce (BYU) def. Jan Krouham (FU) 6-3, 6-1

6. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) def. Alex DeRienzo (FU) 6-1, 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 6, 4, 3, 5, 1

Aaron Sorenson is the sports information director at BYU.