First Conference Win for Cougars

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PROVO -- BYU women’s tennis earned its first conference win of the season with an upset of No. 74 San Diego State Thursday. The Cougars’ 5-2 win improves their record to 5-10 overall and 1-1 in Mountain West play.

“This was a great performance for us,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “We played solid from top to bottom. I was happy with the result and the effort by the players.”

Kristina Doerr and McCall Jones downed their Aztec challengers 8-2 in doubles play to start the match. SDSU responded with an 8-5 win at the No. 2 position, but BYU came back to win the last match and the point.

Doerr continued her impressive performance in singles where she overcame No. 78 Alicia Aguilar on court two. The senior trailed her opponent 5-2 before winning five consecutive games to take the first set. Doerr then easily won the second and tallied point two for the Cougars.

Fellow senior Chie Hayaska was next off the court with a straight-set win at the No. 3 spot. No. 52 Jones sealed the victory for BYU and snapped the team’s four-match losing streak with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of No. 50 Julia Trunk.

“The girls are getting tougher throughout the season,” Johnson said. “They worked hard in the past week and been consistent in practice.”

SDSU notched its first point when Liza Ezhova retired after dropping the first set. The Aztecs followed with a straight-set win on court six. Elle Carney fell in the first set 7-6 but battled back to win the second 7-5. Because the match result was set, a 10-point tiebreak was played rather than a full third set. More than three hours after the match began, Carney earned the victory (12-10) and ended the contest at 5-2.

“We hope to keep this momentum as conference play progresses,” Johnson said.

BYU will return to the court Friday to face No. 29 UNLV and honor its two seniors in the last home match of the season. Play begins at 10 a.m. at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, located south of the Smith Fieldhouse. Admission is free and the team will provide pizza for fans.

Results
BYU-5
No. 74 San Diego State-2
Doubles
1. Doerr/Jones (BYU) def. Ellison/Ellison (SDSU) 8-2
2. Aguilar/Trunk (SDSU) def. Hayasaka/Young (BYU) 8-5
3. Carney/Ezhova (BYU) def. Ciofii/Wais (SDSU) 8-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3,
Singles
1. No. 52 M. Jones (BYU) def. No. 50 J. Trunk (SDSU) 6-2, 6-3
2. K. Doerr (BYU) def. No. 78 A. Aguilar (SDSU) 7-5, 6-2
3. C. Hayaska (BYU) def. J. Wais (SDSU) 6-2, 7-5
4. E. Carney (BYU) def. R. Ellison (SDSU) 6-7, 7-5, 12-10
5. S. Ellison (SDSU) def. L. Ezhova (BYU) 6-3, ret.
6. O. Colman (SDSU) def. A. Young (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 5, 6, 4