PROVO -- Highly competitive matches, many of which went the full three sets, marked the first day of fall competition for the BYU women's tennis team at the BYU Invitational Thursday.
"It was a good first day," said coach Craig Manning. "For the first match of the year I was very happy with it."
The coach had plenty of reasons to be happy. BYU competed in 11 singles matches on the day, winning seven of them. The Cougars took seven of those matches into the third set, making a very competitive opening day for the team. Manning said the advantage to match play this early in the season is certain things about his team start to stick out that wouldn't be noticed otherwise. These types of tournaments allow him point out to his players what they need to do to be successful.
"Now players start to understand why we do what we do and why we focus on the things we focus on," he said.
Not only was this the first competition of the fall season for BYU, it was also the first collegiate competition for 17-year-old BYU freshman Rana El Derwy. She won her first match as a Cougar by defeating Lisa Blomquist from the University of Utah 6-4, 7-5. El Derwy said it felt great to get her first victory under her belt.
"It's a nice feeling and you get a lot of confidence from it," she said.
With the nervous feelings that come from the first day of competition out of the way, the team is ready for the second day of competition. The BYU Invitational continues Friday, with play beginning at 9:00 a.m. Matches will be held at the BYU Outdoor Tennis Courts. Admission is free and open to the public.
Complete brackets and results from the BYU Invitational can be found at www.edraws.com/byu.
Results
Wencel BSU def Deters BYU 6-0 5-7 7-5
Williamson BYU def Badger WSU 3-6 6-4 4-1
El Derwy BYU def Blomquist Utah 6-4 7-5
Anderson CSU def Holden BYU 6-4 2-6 7-5
Jones BYU def Mackova BSU 6-7 6-2 6-2
Chang BYU def Watts Utah 6-2 6-1
Hansen Utah def Williamson BYU 4-6 6-4 6-4
Deters BYU def Strickland USU 6-4 4-6 6-2
Surkova BYU def Reveche Utah 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
Boulytcheva BYU Pallares CSU 6-0 6-0
Ganzha BSU def El Derwy BYU 6-3 6-4
DOUBLES
Williamson/Deters BYU def Singh/Akel CSU 8-4