Las Vegas, Nevada
NA Las Vegas NV NA
LAS VEGAS – BYU junior Desiree Tran won her first three matches to advance to the Round of 16 in the USTA Division I Women’s Mountain Regional Championships and the rest of the women’s tennis team tallied to win seven additional matches throughout the week on UNLV’s campus.
“We let our emotions get the best of us in a few matches this weekend, but I am confident in these girls and this team,” head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “We are going to have a great season come January.”
On Wednesday, Tran quickly topped Claire Uhle from Northern Colorado, 6-0, 6-1. Due to rain delays, Tran’s next victory didn’t come until Friday when she came from behind to defeat Sophie Stevens from Nevada, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. In the third round, also on Friday, Tran came out on top against Colorado’s Julyette Steur, 7-6, 6-4.
“Desiree played some of the best tennis I’ve seen her play,” Jones-Spencer said. “She is really on top of her game right now.”
Tran’s first loss came on Saturday as she fell to Nives Pavlovic from UNLV, 7-6, 6-4.
Senior Aubrey Paul and sophomore Morgan Anderson were the other two Cougars to advance in singles play. Paul won in three sets against Boise State’s Megan Lalone, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Anderson defeated Utah State’s Ashley Stuhlmann, 6-2, 6-3.
Paul couldn’t top Wyoming’s Alexander Kovacs in the second round of singles on Friday, as she fell, 6-2, 6-4. Anderson lost to Sarah Pham from Utah, 6-4, 6-2.
In the first round of doubles play, Tran and sophomore Meghan Sheehan-Dizon defeated Montana’s Precious Gbadmosi and Maddy Murray, 8-4. The duo also won its second round match against Colorado’s Winde Janssens and Steur, 8-5. After a bye in the first round, another BYU team, Anderson and freshman Mackenna Maddox, squeaked past Michaela Bezdickova and Maria Sablina from New Mexico, 9-7.
Both teams lost in the Round of 16 – Anderson and Maddox fell to Nevada’s Emma Verberne and Michelle Okhremchuck, 8-4, while Tran and Sheehan-Dizon lost to Utah’s Paige Miles and Tereza Bekerova, 8-5.
The complete results from the tournament can be viewed on the UNLV tennis schedule page.
The team’s next tournament is Nov. 9-10 at the Arizona State Tournament in Tempe, Ariz.
PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s tennis team travels to Las Vegas to compete in the 2012 ITA Mountain Regional tournament on Oct. 10-14 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on UNLV’s campus.
“This is going to be a good week of tennis for us,” head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “We have been practicing well and the girls all seem ready to compete.”
The tournament features 19 other schools, including three local schools in Utah, Utah State and Weber State.
The singles and doubles champions from the regionals will advance to the 2012 USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships.
The first two singles rounds will be played on Wednesday starting at 9 a.m. PT and doubles play begins Thursday.
BYU recorded 10 wins at last year’s tournament, including five singles and five doubles.
Freshman Mackenna Maddox advanced to the semifinals of the Cal Nike Invitational two weeks ago but didn’t play in the final rounds due to BYU’s policy of not competing on Sunday.
Wednesday, Oct. 10 – First and second round singles
Thursday, Oct. 11 - First round doubles, third round singles, first round consolation singles
Friday, Oct. 12 - Second round doubles, first round consolation doubles, Round of 16 singles, Quarterfinal singles, second round consolation singles, added singles matches
Saturday, Oct. 13 - Round of 16 doubles, Quarterfinal doubles, second round consolation doubles, Semifinal singles, third round consolation singles
Sunday, Oct. 14 - Semifinal doubles, Doubles Final, third round consolation doubles, Singles Final, fourth round consolation singles, added singles matches