Tennis Road Trip Starts with a "W"

PROVO -- The No. 34 BYU women's tennis team beat the Kansas Jayhawks (1-7) on the road Friday with a 4-3 victory, coming off of three losses to team in the top 15 and improving its record to 3-4 on the season.

"We were really focused as a team," BYU head coach Craig Manning said. "A couple of the freshman are getting used to playing on the road and it was just a nice, good win. It's always good to beat a team like Kansas on the road."

The Cougars were on top from the start as they swept the doubles competition in their trademark fashion. The teams of Anastasia Surkova/Jenny Miccoli and Lauren Jones/Sofia Holden proved why they are two of the top teams in the region, winning their matches 8-4 and 8-1, respectively.

The singles competition was split with three wins for each team. BYU's top two, Jones and Surkova, both won in straight sets as did Dolly Chang at the No. 6 spot. Freshman Kristina Doerr lost at No. 3 and Sofia Holden and Chie Hayasaka lost in three sets at Nos. 4 and 5.

Manning and company will head to No. 63 Kansas State on Saturday and are looking to turn the win into a streak and get back to the .500 mark. The Wildcats began the weekend with a record of 1-1 and warmed up for the Cougars by beating the University of Utah on Friday, 5-2.

"Both these teams, Kansas and Kansas State, are tough, but tomorrow should be a bit more challenging than today," Manning said.

The next time BYU will see action at home is March 2 and 3 against No. 53 Colorado and No. 65 Boise State.

Match Results

BYU 4, Kansas 3

Doubles:

1) Surkova/Miccoli (BYU) def. Avdeeva/Horvath (KU), 8-4

2) Jones/Holden (BYU) def. Hommell/Svistun (KU), 8-1

3) Doerr/Chang (BYU) def. Smith/Dorn (KU), 8-6

Singles:

1) Lauren Jones (BYU) def. Elizaveta Avdeeva (KU), 6-2, 7-6 (3)

2) Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Kunigunda Dorn (KU), 6-2, 6-2

3) Edina Horvath (KU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU), 6-2, 6-4

4) Lauren Hommell (KU) def. Sofia Holden (BYU), 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (8)

5) Yuliana Svistun (KU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU), 6-0, 3-6, 6-0

6) Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Stephanie Smith (KU), 6-2, 6-0