SEATTLE -- The No. 24 women of Washington handed the No. 64 BYU women’s tennis team its first loss Saturday as the Cougars fell 6-1 in Seattle. With the defeat, the squad falls to 1-1 on the season.

“The team played very well,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “This match gives us a gauge of what we need to work on for the rest of the season.”

Doubles play belonged to the Huskies as they took all three pairs matches. BYU’s No. 18 pair dropped an 8-3 decision to Joyce Ardies and Denise Dy, the No. 11 duo in the country.

Play continued to go Washington’s way in singles with Ardies and Dy notching two more wins to begin. Chie Hayasaka managed to capture one point for the Cougars with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Lina Xu on court three.

“Chie played some serious tennis,” Johnson said. “She played extremely well in both matches this weekend.”

The BYU senior’s win was not enough to hold off the Huskies, and Washington seized the remaining matches in straight sets to seal the victory.

“All of the players fought hard and it was a great start to the season,” Johnson said. “The positive thing about playing such a tough team early in the schedule is that it helps us understand the areas where we need to get better.”

BYU will next take the court Feb. 4 at home against No. 74 Wichita State.

No. 24 Washington-6 
No. 64 BYU-1
 
Doubles
1) (11) Ardies/Dy (UW) def. (18) Jones/Price (BYU), 8-3
2) Smith/Chan (UW) def. Doerr/Nedokovic (BYU), 8-1
3) Malovic/Xu (UW) def. Hayasaka/Ezhova (BYU), 8-3
Order of finish: 2, 1, 3
 
Singles
1) (11) Venise Chan (UW) def. (54) McCall Jones (BYU), 6-4, 6-4
2) (3) Denise Dy (UW) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU), 6-1, 6-1
3) Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Lina Xu (UW), 6-4, 7-5
4) Joyce Ardies (UW) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU), 6-0, 6-2
5) Samantha Smith (UW) def. Megan Price (BYU), 7-5, 6-4
6) Aleksandra Malovic (UW) def. Romina Nedakovic (BYU), 7-6 (4), 6-4
Order of finish: 4, 2, 3, 6, 5, 1

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.