PROVO -- A long weekend of Mountain West Conference tennis ended Saturday with the women's team beating Wyoming and the men's team falling to TCU.
The women won their sixth match in a row as a team with their third sweep in as many matches. The team improves to 14-5 overall on the season and a 4-0 record with three conference matches left to play.
"It was tough conditions today, but we fought through it," BYU head women's coach Craig Manning said. "It was a little windy and below 50 degrees when we started playing. Some of the girls were ill, but we fought hard and it was a battle just to stay in it. Some of the girls didn't even warm up for the match they were so ill. Wyoming is a tough school too, so I have to be proud of the girls for the way they played."
The match began with singles competition in an effort to shorten match time, a goal that the Cougars helped to accomplish. All six matches were started, but only four were needed for BYU to clinch the win. Anastasia Surkova won again at no. 1 and finished the weekend with three wins, outscoring her opponents by an average of 6-1 in every set.
Freshman Chie Hayasaka won her sixth match in a row and is now 5-0 at no. 3 singles. Fellow freshman Kristina Doerr also won at no. 4 and has not lost a match in her four. The fourth point came from junior Jenny Miccoli at no. 5 who has only played three singles matches all spring due to a recovering shoulder injury.
Senior Lauren Jones was tied at 4-4 in the third set at no. 2 singles when her match was stopped, and freshman Jocelyn Jensen was up 5-2 in the first set of her first singles match of the spring when her match was stopped.
The women's next match will be at home on Wednesday as they take on No. 48 Boise State in the last home match of the season. Conference play will then resume on Friday against New Mexico at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.
Saturday's match was the fifth match in six days for the men's team and all were on the road against ranked competitors. The week started with a win over Stanford in Palo Alto, a notoriously difficult place to play, but the Cougars struggled staying on track the rest of the week.
Pearce rearranged the lineup in hopes of generating a more positive outcome for the team. Senior Chip Hand moved to the no. 2 singles spot and recorded his ninth win in a row and his team-leading 15th win on the season.
The other two team points came from singles wins from junior Jonathan Sanchez in the no. 5 spot, and sophomore transfer Cale Planck at the no. 6 spot, both in straight sets.
Hand and Sanchez also won in doubles competition to record their team-leading tenth win on court no. 2, but the doubles point went to TCU after winning on court nos. 1 and 3.
The team falls to 9-12 on the year and 0-3 in conference play. BYU will face Air Force and San Diego State in Colorado Springs on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Pearce said the higher elevation and faster courts will be in his team's favor as they look to get back to their winning ways.
Match Results:
BYU defeats Wyoming, 4-0
Doubles:
Not Played
Singles:
1. Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Karolina Rowinski (WYO); 6-1, 6-2
2. Lauren Jones (BYU) vs. Sarah Summerfield (WYO); 5-7, 6-1, 4-4 (DNF)
3. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Corina Lazar (WYO); 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
4. Kirstina Doerr (BYU) def. Michelle Brown (WYO); 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
5. Jenny Miccoli (BYU) def. Andrea House (WYO); 6-2, 6-3
6. Jocelyn Jensen (BYU) vs. Jamie Nelson (WYO); 5-2, (DNF)
No. 74 TCU defeats No. 69 Brigham Young, 4-3
Doubles:
1. No. 23 Kriegler Brink/Cosmin Cotet (TCU) def. James Ludlow/Dominik Kaufhold (BYU), 8-5
2. Chip Hand/Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Radu Barbu/Andrew Ulrich (TCU), 5-4 (ret.)
3. Christopher Biro/Stuart Row (TCU) def. Cassidy Mears/Cale Planck (BYU), 8-6
TCU wins doubles point
Singles:
1. No. 106 Cosmin Cotet (TCU) def. No. 105 James Ludlow (BYU), 6-0, 7-5
2. Chip Hand (BYU) def. Christopher Biro (TCU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Kriegler Brink (TCU) def. Dominik Kaufhold (BYU), 7-6(3), 6-2
4. Radu Barbu (TCU) def. Cassidy Mears (BYU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
5. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Andrew Ulrich (TCU), 6-2, 6-0
6. Cale Planck (BYU) def. Stuart Row (TCU), 6-3, 6-1