PROVO -- As the BYU football team claimed victory at its homecoming game on Saturday, so did tennis player Kristina Doerr who won the singles title at the BYU Invitational.
Doerr met Utah's Liz Ferris in the championship match, winning 6-2, 2-6, 6-4. Ferris is ranked No. 88 in the preseason national polls and has received All-Mountain West Conference honors for the past three seasons.
"It was a big match for Kristina [Doerr]," said head coach Craig Manning. "Liz [Ferris] is a very good player who has had a lot of success. I thought Kristina played fantastic tennis."
A sophomore from Alpine, Utah, Doerr came to BYU last January after graduating early from Lone Peak High School. During the spring season she competed in the No. 3 position for the Cougars.
"Christina is taking her game to another level," said Manning. "This was an awesome win for her, especially as a sophomore."
Earlier in the morning two BYU pairs competed in the doubles semifinals. Doerr and Elle Carney fell to Utah's Ferris and Leigh Walsh, who advanced to play Dolly Chang and Jocelyn Jensen in the finals. Chang and Jensen had just won an 8-1 match against Colorado State's Laura Neal and Anette Pohjalainen.
In the doubles final the Utes pulled out to an early 3-0 lead. Chang and Jensen battled back in the next two games with the cheers of the crowd behind them. The teams alternated wins back-and-forth for the next four games before Ferris and Walsh went on to win the match 8-5.
Manning said he was proud of all of his players' performances despite missing two of the team's top players due to injury.
"Even though Jenny [Miccoli] and Anastasia [Surkova] didn't play this weekend our team did extremely well," said Manning. "I saw great things from all of our players."
Up next the team will prepare for its regional tournament in October. Manning says there are still a few things his team needs to work on but expects great things from his players.
Results from the tournament can be found at www.edraws.com/byu. Click on BYU Women's Invitational to access the most recent results.
RESULTS
K. Doerr BYU def. Liz Ferris UTAH 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Doubles
L. Ferris and L. Walsh def. K. Doerr and E. Carney 8-5
L. Ferris and L. Walsh def. D. Chang and J. Jensen 8-5