PULLMAN -- After more than seven hours on the court, the No. 64 BYU women’s tennis team walked away with its first win of the season Friday. The Cougars staved off Washington State to earn the 4-3 victory.

“It was a good start,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “We’re excited that it ended on a great note.”

Kristina Doerr and Romina Nedakovic recorded the first win of the day, an 8-5 result in doubles. No. 18 McCall Jones and Megan Price also won their match to secure the doubles point for BYU. Washington State was able to claw out one pairs win, a 9-8 victory on court three.

In singles, each squad took one match to start putting the score at 2-1. WSU then recorded two consecutive wins at the Nos. 1 and 2 positions to come within just one point of the win. Nedakovic defeated her opponent in straight sets to even things up and put the match in the hands of Price.

“It was a competitive match,” Johnson said. “We had to step up and face some pressure situations. Washington State played very well.”

The sophomore, who lost the first set, fought to a 7-6 scoreline in the second. With the result hinging on her performance, Price was able to take the third set 6-4 and clinch the win for the Cougars.

“A close match gets you into gear,” Johnson said. “I feel optimistic that we will be ready for Saturday.”

BYU will continue play Saturday in Seattle as they face No. 24 Washington. First serve is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Nordstrom Tennis Center.

BYU-4
WSU-3
Doubles
1. No. 18 Jones/Price (BYU) def. Vasilieva/Fournier (WSU) 9-7
2. Doerr/Nedakovic (BYU) def. Kankaras/Nicolas (WSU) 8-5
3. Gomez/Googe (WSU) def. Hayasaka/Paul (BYU) 9-8 (7-5)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Singles
1. L. Vasilieva (WSU) def. M. Jones (BYU) 6-3, 7-6 (9-7)
2. E. Fournier (WSU) def. K. Doerr (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
3. C. Hayasaka (BYU) def. M. Nicolas (WSU) 7-6, 6-2
4. K. Googe (WSU) def. E. Ezhova (BYU) 6-0, 6-4
5. M. Price (BYU) def. A. Kankaras (WSU) 5-7, 7-6, 6-4
6. R. Nedakovic (BYU) def. J. Gomez (WSU) 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 4, 3, 2, 1, 6, 5

PROVO -- In its first matches of the season, the No. 64 BYU women’s tennis team will take on Washington State Friday and No. 24 Washington Saturday.

The first test will come against the Cougars of Washington State. BYU soundly defeated WSU 6-1 last year at home but will now travel to Pullman, Wash. to face a team that has a slight all-time advantage, winning five of nine matches in the past. Washington State will also have momentum coming off a 7-0 sweep of Lewis-Clark State and a 6-1 win over Idaho last week.

Next, a talented Washington squad will challenge the Cougars. The Huskies have two players ranked in the top 12 in the nation and one doubles pair ranked No. 11. The team spent last week at the Michigan Invitational where No. 11 Venise Chan and No. 3 Denise Dy finished the tournament in the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively. The Huskies defeated BYU 7-0 when the teams met last season.

Not to be outdone, the Cougars have recently advanced in the ITA national rankings with McCall Jones taking the No. 54 spot. She and classmate Megan Price are the No. 18 duo in the country.

Matches against Washington State begin Friday at 11 a.m. and play versus Washington starts Saturday at 10 a.m.