PROVO, Utah — BYU women’s tennis returns to play for the first time in nearly a year, as the Cougars welcome the Weber State Wildcats to the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 11:00 a.m. MST.
“We are two months short of a full year since we suited up for our last competition. It’s emotional to think about,” said BYU head coach Holly Hasler. “We practice to compete and haven’t had that opportunity for a very long time. You better believe we are headed into this weekend with an outpouring of excitement and gratitude to be back on the court, fighting, competing, and doing what we love.”
The 2019-20 season came to an abrupt end due to the COVID-19 pandemic, following a 4-3 win over Arizona. The Cougars finished the season 8-3, defeating New Mexico, Houston, and Arizona in their final three matches.
The Cougars are scheduled to play 23 matches this season, with 11 being played at home and 12 on the road. They will face each West Coast Conference team once, but there will be no WCC Tournament, as previously announced earlier this year. The NCAA Championships are scheduled for May 20-29, 2021.
This year’s team will feature six new faces, including five freshmen, in Kensie Cricchio, Qianxin Kong, Kara Lin, Elizabeth Tullis, and Mackenzie Turley, as well as sophomore Xenia de Luna. The Cougars return six players from last year: graduate senior Polina Malykh; seniors Anastasia Abramyan, Leah Heimuli, Madeline Wanlass; and sophomores Emilee Astle and Helen Jiao.
Weber State welcomes back Pei-Hsuan (Patty) Kuo, Megan Lombardi, Ana Morett Salas, and Yuuna Ukita from last year’s squad that finished 8-4. Freshmen Megan Davies, Sicely Ferreira, and Ana Gonzalez will each make their Wildcat debut when they face the Cougars.
BYU has defeated Weber State the last four years and is looking to extend the streak to five. In last year’s meeting, BYU won 5-2, with Heimuli (13-10 in singles, 15-5 in doubles), Astle (11-6 in singles, 13-5 in doubes), and Wanlass (8-7 in singles, 5-5 in doubles) each collecting wins in their singles and doubles matches.
Until further notice, only family members are allowed to attend home matches. Family members will need to be on a pre-existing list and provide photo ID in order to attend.