FORT WORTH -- The 2008 women's tennis season came to an end for the BYU women's team after a disappointing 4-0 loss to Utah in the quarterfinals of this year's MWC Women's Tennis Championships, Thursday.

The BYU duo of Dolly Chang and Chie Hayasaka posted an 8-6 victory over Utah's Leigh Walsh and Karine Bourdages at the No. 3 position but it wasn't enough as the Utes won the other two doubles matches for the 1-0 lead heading in to singles play.

Utah would capture the win with three straight-set victories in singles play.

"We fought hard today but it wasn't enough," said head coach Craig Manning. "The girls played as hard as they could, and sometimes it just doesn't go your way. Utah deserved the win."

The Cougars end the year with a 13-12 record.

-AGATE- Utah (15-8), def. No. 5 BYU (13-12), 4-0.

SINGLES

1. Elizabeth Ferris (Utah) def. No. 53 Anastasia Surkova (BYU) 7-6(4), 6-3

2. Kristina Doerr (BYU) vs. Emily Kwok (Utah) 7-6(3), 4-5, unf.

3. Erin Monson (Utah) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-3, 6-2

4. Leigh Walsh (Utah) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) 6-3, 6-4

5. Ellie Carney (BYU) vs. Karine Bourdages (Utah) 6-4, 5-0, unf.

6. Andrea Maughan (Utah) vs. Dolly Chang (BYU) 6-4, 2-5, unf.

Order of Finish: 3, 4, 1*

DOUBLES

1. Kwok/Ferris (Utah) def. No. 48 Surkova/Miccoli (BYU) 8-5

2. Monson/Maughan (Utah) def. Doerr/Carney (BYU) 9-7

3. Chang/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Walsh/Bourdages (Utah) 8-6

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2*

*Clinching point

PROVO -- The BYU men's and women's tennis teams will travel to Fort Worth, Texas as the Mountain West Conference Tournament gets underway at the Bayard H. Freidman Tennis Center on Thursday. Both Cougar teams enter the tournament as the No. 5 seeds in their respective draws, with the men facing No. 74 UNLV and the women taking on No. 56 Utah.

After beginning conference play with a perfect 5-0 record, BYU's No. 47 women's team (13-11, 5-3 MWC) suffered losses in the last three league matches of the season; with its most recent coming against in-state rival Utah this past Saturday. The Cougars will have a chance to redeem themselves as the two teams compete for the second time in less than one week.

"We're really excited to play Utah again this week and see if we can play better," said women's head coach Craig Manning. "Our team is anxious to get out there."

Entering this year's championships, the BYU women's team has captured the title crown three of the past four seasons, and is looking to repeat. Should BYU defeat Utah, it would move on to Friday's semifinals against the winner of TCU's match vs. either Air Force or Wyoming.

Despite its 2-4 conference record, the men's team is excited to participate in the tournament as well, hoping to see similar results to last season. In 2007 the Cougars entered the championships as the five-seed with an identical 2-4 record. That team went on to upset No 55 New Mexico and No. 47 San Diego State, the regular-season champion, to secure second place in the tournament.

The Cougars are slated to take on fourth-seed, and defending MWC Champions, UNLV, who defeated BYU 4-3 earlier in the season. The winner of that match will face the top-seeded host TCU in the semifinals.

"The last time we played [UNLV] we had a chance to win the doubles point, but weren't able to pull it out," said men's head coach Brad Pearce. "That will be a key factor this time around. We have to play a complete match in both singles and doubles."

Both matches will take place on Thursday, with the BYU women facing Utah at 2 p.m. CT and the men following at 4 p.m. CT. The winners of the men's and women's MWC Tournaments receive the conference's automatic bids to their respective NCAA Tournaments.

For live stats and updated results on the tournament click here

2008 MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE WOMEN'S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS
 
Wednesday, April 23
10 a.m. CT     Opening Round            No. 8 Wyoming vs. No. 9 Air Force
 
Thursday, April 24
10 a.m. CT     Quarterfinal Match #1    No. 2 UNLV vs. No. 7 Colorado State
10 a.m. CT     Quarterfinal Match #2    No. 3 New Mexico vs. No. 6 San Diego State
2 p.m. CT      Quarterfinal Match #3    No. 1 TCU vs. WYO/AFA Winner
2 p.m. CT      Quarterfinal Match #4    No. 4 Utah vs. No. 5 BYU
 
Friday, April 25
10 a.m. CT     Semifinal Match #1       UNLV/CSU Winner vs. UNM/SDSU Winner
2 p.m. CT      Semifinal Match #2       TCU/WYO-AFA Winner vs. Utah/BYU Winner
 
Saturday, April 26
2 p.m. CT      Championship Match