BYU tennis: Cougars splits match in first day of HEB Tournament

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – In the first day of the HEB Tournament of Champions, the No. 30 BYU men’s tennis team bounced back to defeat Western Michigan 4-2 after falling to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday.

“It was a perfect storm of adversity to draw the home team in our first match transitioning from a month of indoor tennis at altitude to a seal level match outdoors on a hot sunny day,” BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. “The Islanders deserve credit for playing inspired tennis.”

The Cougars (11-3) started the day by earning the doubles point against the Islanders. Patrick Kawka and Francis Sargeant got the first victory of the day on Court 1 by topping Peter Nagy and Odon Barta 8-4.

On Court 3, Keaton Cullimore and John Pearce secured the doubles point with an 8-4 win over Gergo Weidinger and Guillaume Rauseo. The duo of Spencer Smith and Travis Fillmore fell short in a long match 9-8 (2).

BYU’s momentum did not carry over into the singles matches, however, as Texas A&M-Corpus Christi went on to win four-straight matches and the overall duel.

At 4 p.m. the Cougars faced the Broncos. Due to the rules of the tournament, the two teams only played singles.

Kawka earned a point for BYU as he defeated Nadin Indre in three sets, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Sargeant and Cullimore each topped their opponents in decisive matches. On Court 6, Pearce also earned a 6-2, 7-5 win over Andrew Cahn.

BYU plays in the last match of the tournament on Saturday against South Alabama.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 4, BYU 1

Doubles

1. Kawka/Sargeant (BYU) def. Nagy/Barta (AMCC) 8-4

2. Smith/Fillmore (BYU) def. Westmoreland/Maingot (AMCC) 9-8(2)

3. Weidinger/Rauseo (AMCC) def. Cullimore/Pearce (BYU) 8-4

Order of finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles

1. Peter Nagy (AMCC) def. Patrick Kawka (BYU) 6-1, 6-2

2. Matt Westmoreland (AMCC) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 7-5, 6-2

3. Gergo Weidinger (AMCC) vs. Francis Sargeant (BYU) 5-7, 3-4 (DNF)

4. Guillaume Rauseo (AMCC) vs. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) 5-7, 5-5 (DNF)

5. Javier Pujol (AMCC) def. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) 6-1, 6-2

6. Ricardo Mayagoitia (AMCC) def. John Pearce (BYU) 6-2, 6-4

Order of finish: 1, 5, 6, 2

BYU 4, Western Michigan 2

Doubles

Not played

Singles

1. Patrick Kawka (BYU) def. Nadin Indre (WMU) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3

2. Ross VanderPloeg (WMU) def. Spencer Smith (BYU) 6-4, 6-4

3. Francis Sargeant (BYU) def. Aaron Wong (WMU) 6-3, 6-0

4. Keaton Cullimore (BYU) def. Ruben Greiner (WMU) 6-2, 6-1

5. Pablo Mora (WMU) def. Andrey Goryachkov (BYU) 6-4, 6-1

6. John Pearce (BYU) def. Andrew Cahn (WMU) 6-2, 7-5

Aaron Sorenson is the tennis sports information director at BYU.