SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- The No. 27 BYU women's tennis team made the 40-minute drive north worth it Saturday, using every match they had to beat rival Utah 4-3 in at the Eccles Tennis Center. The Cougars improve their record to 14-5 overall and 2-1 in the conference, while the Utes drop to 8-7 on the year and 0-3 in conference play.
"We played okay," Coach Craig Manning said. "The girls fought hard and had a good attitude, and it was enough for today. But we still have things we can work on."
The match started out similar to the way most of BYU's matches have begun this season. The Cougars, who stress their doubles play, came out fighting early to sweep the doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead over Utah. The duos at courts one and two had little trouble doing away with their opponents, winning 8-4 and 8-3 respectively. On court one, Dolly Chang and Sofia Holden grinded one out as they needed a tie-breaking game to take their set 8-7 (5).
The point allowed the Cougars to go into singles confidently, and the middle of BYU's order wound up making the difference for the team. Sofia Holden got a tough win over Cinthia Saucedo 7-6, 6-2, and got help from Jennifer Miccoli and Dolly Chang, who ripped through two-set victories 7-5, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-0 to seal another win for the Cougars.
The girls at the Nos. 3, 4, and 5 spots were huge for BYU, especially since Lauren Jones, who has won seven straight matches for the Cougars, was not in the singles lineup. Anastasia Sourkova moved into the number two spot, and freshman Rana El Derwy got her first taste of the BYU-Utah game, playing sixth. But the two of them were unable to pull out wins. Sourkova dropped just her fourth match of the year, losing to Emily Kwok in a very tough 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 match. El Derwy also went as far as she could go, but came up empty, dropping a heart-breaker to Cheyenne Reveche 7-6, 3-6, 12-10.
No. 18 Olga Boulyutcheva, who had only lost one match before last weekend, lost her third straight match to Elizabeth Ferris 3-6, 7-6 (3), 11-9.
At 2-1 in the Mountain West Conference, the Cougars come home April 7 and 8 to face conference foes TCU and New Mexico. Saturday is senior Day for the Cougars. The TCU match Friday at 12 p.m. and the New Mexico match at 11 a.m. Saturday. Admission is free and open to the public.
No. 27 BYU 4 Utah 3
DUAL MATCH RESULTS
Singles:
1. Elizabeth Ferris (Utah) def. Olga Boulutcheva (BYU); 3-6, 7-6(3), 11-9
2. Emily Kwok (Utah) def. Anastasia Sourkova (BYU); 6-3, 5-7, 6-2
3. Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Cinthia Saucedo (Utah); 7-6(6), 6-2
4. Jennifer Miccoli (BYU) def. Leigh Walsh (Utha); 7-5, 6-2
5. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Karine Bourdages (Utah); 6-2, 6-0
6. Cheyenne Reveche (Utah) def. Rana El Derwy (BYU); 7-6(0), 3-6, 12-10
EXHIBITION
7. Allison Hansen-Sine (Utah) def. Breanna Williamson (BYU); 6-0, 6-1
Doubles:
1. Dolly Chang/ Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Elizabeth Ferris/ Allison Hansen-Sine (Utah); 8-7(5)
2. Anastasia Sourkova/ Jennifer Miccoli (BYU) def. Emily Kwok/ Leigh Walsh (Utah); 8-4
3. Olga Boulytcheva/ Lauren Jones (BYU) def. Cheyenne Reveche/ Karine Bourdages (Utah); 8-3