Arkansas Too Tough for Young Cougars

FAYETTEVILLE -- No. 44 BYU narrowly avoided a sweep Friday against No. 16 Arkansas after solid pairs performances gave the Cougars the doubles point. With the 6-1 loss, BYU dropped to 2-3 while Arkansas improved to 4-1.

“We’ve been practicing well,” BYU coach Craig Manning said. “We’re just too uptight. We need to relax.”

The Razorbacks earned the first doubles win on court one when freshmen McCall Jones and Megan Price fell 8-3 to the No. 8 duo of Nanar Airapetian and Anouk Tigu. But the Cougars came back with impressive wins at the remaining two positions to claim the point.

Kristina Doerr and Romina Nedakovic edged out their U of A opponents 9-7 on court two, and Chie Hayasaka and Elle Carney secured the point with an 8-6 win at No. 3.

“We played awesome doubles,” Manning said.

The Cougars went into singles play with the advantage, but the Razorbacks quickly gained momentum. BYU struggled to win games, and Arkansas easily earned three victories.

Jones faced the No. 2 player in the country, Aurelija Miseviciute, on court one. The Razorback senior clinched the match for Arkansas and set the school record for most all-time singles wins.

“They took control on every court,” Manning said. “We fought hard, had good attitudes and did our best. Now we need to step up and meet the challenge.”

Two more Arkansas victories ended the match at 6-1. No. 73 Doerr battled No. 66 Anouk Tigu in the last match of they day but ultimately fell 6-3, 6-4.

The team will look to bounce back against No. 71 Wichita State Saturday. The match begins at 6 p.m. CT.

Match Results

No. 44 BYU-6

No. 71 Wichita State-1

Doubles

1. No.8 Airapetian/Tigu (UA) def. Jones/Price 8-3

2. Doerr/Nedakovic (BYU) def. Miseviciute/Kaluder (UA) 9-7

3. Haysaka/Carney (BYU) def. Carbone/Lukomskaya (UA) 8-6.

Order of Finish: 1,2,3

Singles

1. No. 2 Aurelija Miseviciute (UA) def. McCall Jones (BYU) 6-1, 6-0*

2. No. 66 Anouk Tigu (UA) def. No. 73 Kristina Doerr (BYU), 6-3, 6-4

3. Ela Kaluder (UA) def. Romina Nedakovic (BYU) 6-2, 6-1

4. Emily Carbone (UA) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-1, 6-0

5. Nanar Airapetian (UA) def. Megan Price (BYU) 6-0, 6-2

6. Kate Lukomskaya (UA) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) 6-0, 6-2

* denotes clinching the match-Order of Finish:4,6,3,1*,5,2