Salt Lake City (October 27, 2003) -- The BYU women's tennis team clinched the first place title at the end of the four-day Central Regional Championship hosted by the University of Utah.

As a result of the first place win, the women's tennis team will host the qualifying tournament Saturday November 1 at the Eccles Tennis Center on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City.

The tournament will begin Saturday at 9 a.m. as tournament champion BYU faces No. 4 Denver. Following the Cougars match No. 2 New Mexico will face No. 3 Oklahoma.

The winner of Saturday's tournament will represent the Central Region in the National Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisc. in February where the nation's top 16 teams will face off.

The Cougars began the tournament strong with all six players facing seeded opponents in the main draw. Five of the six Cougars came away with wins in the main draw. The only Cougar to post a loss in the first round of the main draw was Rebecca Pike. Pike was ill throughout the qualifying round and into the main draw.

Women's head coach Craig Manning was overwhelmed by the display of true excellence his team demonstrated throughout the tournament.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the outcome of this tournament," Manning said. "All of the girls executed their game plan to the best of their ability. We have to prepare for the qualifying tournament this weekend."

To lead the Cougars to their win, senior Barbora Zahnova (32) defeated top seeded opponents from Denver, Tulsa and New Mexico only to fall in the semifinal round to Oklahoma's Anda Perianu 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.

It has not yet been decided which players from the Cougar squad will represent BYU in Salt Lake City Saturday for the qualifying tournament.

SINGLES QUALIFYING MAIN DRAW
ROUND OF 64
Boulytcheva (BYU) def Griffin (Okla.) 		6-4, 6-1
Pike (BYU) def Braver (Okla.)			6-4, 6-2
Schneider (BYU) def Morton (Ark.) 			6-1, 3-6, 1-0
QUALIFYING ROUND OF 32
Boulytcheva (BYU) def Hansen (CU) 			6-0, 6-1
Pike (BYU) def Barry (Missouri)			6-4, 6-2
Schneider (BYU) def Kourim (Denver)			6-1, 5-7, 1-0
QUALIFYING ROUND OF 16
Boulytcheva (BYU) def Brown (KU)			6-7, 7-6, 1-0
Pike (BYU) def Opala (New Mexico St.)		6-3, 6-4
Pratzel (Okla.) def Schneider (BYU) 			6-3, 6-4
SINGLES MAIN DRAW
ROUND OF 64
Boulytcheva (BYU) def Helberg (St. Louis)		7-6, 6-2
Holden (BYU) def Dybicz (Ark.)			6-3, 6-3
Jones (BYU) def Chien (Wyo.)			7-6, 6-3
McFarlane (BYU) def Bennion (USU) 			6-4, 7-5
Nigro (AFA) def Pike (BYU) 				7-5, 7-6
Zahnova (BYU) def Lykina (Okla.)			3-6, 6-0, 7-6
ROUND OF 32
Boulytcheva (BYU) def Simosa (KU) 			5-7, 6-1, 7-6
Hayward (BSU) def Holden (BYU)			6-4, 6-4
Perianu (Okla.) def Jones (BYU)			6-3, 6-0
Maksovic (Denver) def McFarlane (BYU)		6-2, 2-6, 6-3
Zahnova (BYU) def Heidbrink (UNM)			6-1, 6-3
ROUND OF 16
Polowski (BSU) def Boulytcheva (BYU)			7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Zahnova (BYU) def Muscolino (Tulsa)			7-5, 6-2
SINGLES QUARTERFINALS -- MAIN DRAW
Zahnova (BYU) def Dullens (Denver) 			7-5, 6-2
SINGLES SEMIFINALS -- MAIN DRAW
Perianu (Okla.) def Zahnova (BYU) 			6-0, 3-6, 6-2
MAIN DRAW DOUBLES
ROUND OF 64
Holden/Zahnova (BYU) bye
Jones/Pike (BYU) def Kirchem/Zhurin (CSU) 		8-5
Jones/ Singh (CSU) def McFarlane/Schneider (BYU)	8-5
ROUND OF 32
Holden/Zahnova (BYU) def Castillejos/Simosa (KSU)	8-2
Kovacek/Lukowski (UNM) def Jones/Pike (BYU)		8-2
ROUND OF 16
Holden/Zahnova (BYU) def Kourim/Trettin (Denver) 	8-3
DOUBLES QUARTERFINALS
Perianu/Saluri (Okla.) def Holden/Zahnova (BYU)	8-6

PROVO -- The BYU women's tennis team will compete in the ITA Central Region Women's Championships in Salt Lake City, hosted by the University of Utah Thursday Oct. 22-25.

The regional championship will mark only the second fall event for the Cougars this season including the BYU Invitational. The women's tennis team is poised for success once again at the regional tournament. The tournament matches will be played in the Eccles Tennis Center.

Schools competing in the championship will feature 22 different teams including: BYU, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Idaho State, Denver, Colorado, Colorado State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa, Air Force, Arkansas, Saint Louis, Iowa State, Boise State, Utah State, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Wyoming, and host Utah.