MALIBU, Calif. – The BYU women's tennis team was defeated on the road Saturday afternoon by West Coast Conference foe, No. 9 Pepperdine, 4-0. 

"It was a tough weekend against two good teams," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We played some good tennis but came up short so we are going to go back and work hard this next week and finish strong at home."

In No. 3 doubles, junior Taylah Beckman and sophomore Samantha Smith were defeated 6-0 by the Waves' Ashley Lahey and Adrijana Lekaj to give Pepperdine (18-1, 7-0 WCC) an early lead. Sophomores Kate Cusick and Polina Malykh fought it out in No. 2 doubles against No.85 Evgeniya Levashova and Dzina Milovanovic of Pepperdine, but came up short 6-3 to give the Waves the doubles point. No. 1 doubles did not finish.

With a one-point Waves' lead entering singles play, Cusick took on ranked No.101 Laura Guble of Pepperdine in the No. 4 slot. Cusick hung tough, but was defeated 6-2, 6-2 as Guble won her 10th match in a row and increased the Waves' lead to 2-0. 

Freshman Madeline Almeida competed against Milovanovic in No. 5 singles and lost 6-1, 6-2. Malykh fought in No. 3 singles to help the Cougars (11-8, 4-3 WCC) regain some ground in her matchup against Pepperdine's Mayar Sherif. After a close first set, Sherif proved to be too much and completed the 4-0 sweep with a 6-4, 6-0 over Malykh. No. 1 ,2 and 6 singles did not finish.

The Cougars return home for their final matches of the regular season. BYU will welcome WCC foes Pacific on Friday, April 20 at 12:00 p.m. MT and Saint Mary's the following day at 11:00 a.m. MT. The matches will be played on the Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting. Live stats for the match can be found on BYU's online schedule.

Match Results

 Singles competition

1. #24 Stefani, Luisa (PEP) vs. Mayci Jones (BYU) 6-1, 2-3, unfinished

2. #14 Lahey, Ashley (PEP) vs. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished

3. Sherif, Mayar (PEP) def. Polina Malykh (BYU) 6-4, 6-0

4. #101 Gulbe, Laura (PEP) def. Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-2, 6-2

5. Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. Madeline Almeida (BYU) 6-1, 6-2

6. Lekaj, Adrijana (PEP) vs. Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished

 Doubles competition

1. #9 Sherif, Mayar/Stefani, Luisa (PEP) vs. Mayci Jones/Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 5-3, unfinished

2. #85 Levashova, Evgeniya/Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. Polina Malykh/Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-3

3. Lekaj, Adrijana/Lahey, Ashley (PEP) def. Taylah Beckman/Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-0

Match Notes:

BYU 11-8

Pepperdine University 17-1; National ranking #9

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,5,3)

PROVO, Utah – ­­ The BYU women's tennis team hits the road this weekend for West Coast Conference matches against Loyola Marymount on Friday, Apr. 13 at 1:00 p.m. PST and Pepperdine, Saturday at 12:00 p.m. PST.

After suffering a narrow 4-3 loss to rival Utah in the Deseret First Duel Wednesday, the Cougars bounced back at home Saturday with a decisive 4-0 sweep of WCC foe Santa Clara. BYU advanced to 11-6 overall on the season and 4-1 in league play to put the Cougars at No. 3 in the conference.

Loyola Marymount

LMU competed against Gonzaga in Spokane on Saturday and snapped a three-match win streak in a 4-1 loss, falling to 11-5 on the season and 3-2 in league play. Friday’s match could determine WCC tournament seeding for both teams as the Lions currently sit right behind the Cougars in league standings in the No. 4 slot.

Pepperdine

The Waves are currently ranked No. 8 in the nation, Pepperdine swept Portland 4-0 Saturday on the road to advance to 16-1, 5-0 WCC on the season. The Waves have five singles players and three doubles pairs included in the Oracle/ITA rankings. Pepperdine sits alone at the at the top of the Conference.

Check the Cougars’ online schedule for links to the live stats for each match if made available by hosting teams.