USAFA -- In the first match of the weekend, the BYU women’s tennis team earned its second conference win with a 6-1 triumph over Air Force Thursday. With the victory, the Cougars improved to 6-11 on the season and 2-2 against Mountain West Conference teams.

“It was very windy and a little bit cold during the match,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “I was pleased with the way everybody fought through the elements.”

BYU dominated doubles play, winning on all three courts to secure the point. The No. 28-ranked sophomore tandem of McCall Jones and Megan Price, playing together for the first time since mid-March, downed Christen Monreal and Hannah Drake at the top of the lineup. Kristina Doerr and Chie Hayasaka won by the same score on court two to clinch the point. Elle Carney and Liza Ezhova finished pairs play by defeating Melissa Cecil and Christine Molina 8-5.

In singles, the Falcons fought back, earning one win and forcing three matches to three sets. Jones and Doerr both handily defeated their respective opponents in two sets to put the Cougars up 3-0.

Sarah Cassman earned the only win for Air Force in a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Aubrey Paul on court six. Carney, Hayasaka and Ezhova all came out on the winning end of three-set battles to secure the 6-1 decision.

“Chie was down by a set and was losing 5-2 in the second, and she came back to win it,” Johnson said. “She played a fantastic match.”

Friday, BYU will continue conference play against Colorado State at Miramont Lifestyle Fitness South. First serve is set for 2 p.m. `

Results
BYU-6
Air Force-1
Singles
1. No. 52 McCall Jones (BYU) def. Christen Monreal 6-2, 6-3
2. Kristina Doerr (BYU) def. Tahlia Smoke, 6-1, 6-2
3. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Hannah Dake, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
4. Elle Carney (BYU) def. Christine Molina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
5. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) def. Melissa Cecil, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. Sarah Cassman (AF) def. Aubrey Paul, 7-5, 6-4
 
Doubles
1. No. 28 Jones/Megan Price (BYU) def. Monreal /Dake, 8-3 
2. Doerr/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Allie Chermel / Smoke, 8-3 
3. Carney/Ezhova  (BYU) def. Cecil / Molina, 8-5

PROVO -- After splitting matches last week against San Diego State and UNLV, the BYU women’s tennis team will travel to three cities in as many days to play three conference opponents. The Cougars face Air Force Thursday, Colorado State Friday and Wyoming Saturday.

“We had two good matches against San Diego State and UNLV,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “We’re working on moving forward and continuing to have solid play.”

Last season, BYU swept all three teams in Provo. The Cougars are currently 1-2 in Mountain West Conference play after overcoming SDSU 5-2 and losing to UNLV 4-3. AFA, CSU and UW all have 1-1 records against MWC opponents after beating New Mexico and falling to TCU over the weekend.

The Falcons are first on the agenda for BYU and have been enjoying a successful year thus far. Air Force (14-6, 1-1) is well on its way to the first winning season since the 2002-2003 campaign, when it finished play at 15-13. AFA blanked New Mexico last week, its first defeat of the Lobos and its first sweep of a conference challenger in school history.

Friday the Cougars will make the short trip to Fort Collins, Colo. to play Colorado State. The Rams are 6-8 overall and lost 7-0 to TCU in their most recent outing. During the fall season, players from BYU and CSU faced each other at both the BYU Invitational and the ITA Mountain Region Championship.

In the last match of the weekend, the Cougars will take on Wyoming. The Cowgirls (9-5, 1-1) barely fell to TCU, 4-3. UW also rewrote the history books last week by defeating New Mexico for the first time ever.

“This is a slightly longer road trip than we’ve had with more travel, but we’ve made our schedule as efficient as possible,” Johnson said. “We’ve got our routine down, and the energy level of the players should be high.”

BYU will begin the week at the Air Force Academy’s tennis courts at 2 p.m. Thursday. Friday’s match against Colorado State starts at 1 p.m. at Miramont Lifestyle Fitness South. The Cougars wrap up the weekend at the UW Tennis Courts Saturday at 10 a.m.