DENVER -- The No. 58 BYU women’s tennis team fell in a close 4-3 match to No. 39 Denver Monday. With the loss the squad falls to 7-6 while DU improves to 8-3.

“We really fought hard,” BYU coach Craig Manning said. “The girls did a good job.”

The Cougars started out strong, sweeping the doubles matches for the second consecutive time. McCall Jones and Kristina Doerr defeated Mallory Voelker and Julia Bauregger 8-5 on court one, snapping their six-match winning streak.

BYU did not have such an easy time in singles play, dropping matches at the No. 1 through No. 3 positions. The remaining players all fought through tough three-set matches.

“It was frustrating; there were tough conditions,” Manning said.

Sophomore Elle Carney came up with a win on court six to bring the Cougars within one point of the Pioneers. But fellow sophomore Liza Ezhova was unable to overpower Kyla Iwinski, and the DU senior clinched the match for the Pioneers, their seventh in a row.

Mountain West Conference Player of the Week, Megan Price, came back from losing the first set to earn the Cougars’ third point and end the match.

BYU will open conference play March 26-March 28, hosting Colorado State, Air Force and New Mexico.

Match Results 
No. 39 Denver-4
No. 58 BYU-3
Doubles
1. Doerr/Jones (BYU) def. Voelker/Bauregger (DU) 8-5
2. Carney/Price (BYU) def. Iwinski/Schnoy (DU) 8-5
3. Ezhova/Nedakovic (BYU) def. Tirumurti/Aksdal (DU) 8-6
Singles
1. #46M. Voelker (DU) def. M. Jones (BYU) 7-5, 6-4
2. A. Aksdal (DU) def. K. Doerr (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
3. U. Schnoy (DU) def. C. Hayasaka (BYU) 6-0, 6-2
4. M. Price (BYU) def. J. Bauregger (DU) 6-7, 6-3, 7-6
5. Iwinski (DU) def. L. Ezhova (BYU) 6-0, 3-6, 6-4
6. E. Carney (BYU) def. B. Tirumurti (DU) 6-4, 1-6, 7-5

PROVO -- In a rare Monday match, the No. 58 BYU women’s tennis team will travel to face Central region opponent, No. 39 Denver. The Cougars won their fourth consecutive match last week against then-No. 73 Oklahoma State.

“We’re trying to keep the same feel and same state of mind we had Saturday [against Oklahoma State] as best we can,” BYU coach Craig Manning said.

The 7-3 Pioneers come into the match after a 7-0 sweep of No. 61 Colorado. Denver has one singles player ranked, with senior Mallory Voelker at No. 46. DU edged out the Cougars in last year’s meeting, 4-3. Returning players Kristina Doerr, Chie Hayasaka and Elle Carney each notched singles wins in that match.

“We’re trying to concentrate on the present,” Manning said. “We want to focus on what we’re doing.”

The match against Denver begins at 3 p.m. Monday.