PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis (3-0) defeated Dixie State (0-5) twice in a doubleheader on Saturday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.
“It was great to get so many matches under our belt today,” said BYU head coach Holly Parkinson Hasler. “Everyone went into today with a plan, and for the most part, we executed well. February takes us on the road for four solid weekends. It’s going to be a grind, but we are excited to be traveling and competing again.”
BYU’s Madeline Almeida and Elizabeth Tullis were too much for Dixie State’s Kate and Sabrina Longson, winning 6-0. The Cougars’ doubles dominance continued as Emilee Astle and Helen Jiao defeated Kyra Harames and Alex Hildreth, clinching the doubles point. Leah Heimuli and Kara Lin finished off the doubles sweep, beating Ya-Chi Hsu and Rechel Mellor, 6-1.
The Cougars’ singles teams picked up where the doubles teams left off, with more dominant performances. Jiao came out strong, beating Hsu, 6-0, 6-0. Heimuli followed, defeating Harames, 6-0, 6-1. Lin kept things rolling for BYU with a 6-2, 6-0 win over the Trailblazers’ Hildreth. Astle battled back and forth with Emma Templeman early on, but came out on top, 6-3, 6-1. Almeida and Xenia De Luna rounded out the singles competition in the first match of the day. Almeida pulled out a decisive win over Mellor, 6-3, 6-1. De Luna completed the sweep, beating out Dixie State junior Julie Honczaruk, 6-3, 6-0.
The second doubles match looked a lot like the first, with BYU winning on all three courts. Almeida and Tullis picked up another quick win, this time against Alysha Damron and Longson, 6-1. Heimuli and Lin tallied their second win of the day, beating Mellor and Templeman, 6-3. Astle and Jiao kept their perfect record intact, defeating Honczaruk and Hsu, 6-2, to move on to 3-0 on the season.
Lin got the first singles win of the second match, coming away with a strong 6-2, 6-0 victory over Harames. Astle followed, defeating Longson 6-0, 6-2. Heimuli picked up her third singles win, winning 6-3, 6-0. Jiao continued BYU’s dominance, beating out Dixie State’s Templeman, 6-2, 6-2. Next, De Luna collected her second singles win of the day with a 6-1, 6-1 win. Tullis ended the Cougars day with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Damron. Tullis's victory was the Cougars’ 18th straight singles win to start out the season.
The Cougars make their first road trip of the year, traveling to Fresno on Thursday for a three-match weekend. BYU will face Fresno State on Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. PST, Sacramento State on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. PST, and Cal Poly on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. PST.
MATCH 1 RESULTS
BYU 7, Dixie State 0
Doubles Competition
1. Leah Heimuli/Kara Lin (BYU) def. Ya-Chi Hsu/Rachel Mellor (DSU), 6-1
2. Emilee Astle/Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Kyra Harames/Alex Hildreth (DSU), 6-1
3. Madeline Almeida/Elizabeth Tullis (BYU) def. Kate Longson/Sabrina Longson (DSU), 6-0
Order of finish: (3, 2, 1)
Singles Competition
1. Leah Heimuli (BYU) def. Kyra Harames (DSU), 6-0, 6-1
2. Kara Lin (BYU) def. Alex Hildreth (DSU), 6-2, 6-0
3. Emilee Astle (BYU) def. Emma Templeman (DSU), 6-3, 6-1
4. Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Ya-Chi Hsu (DSU), 6-0, 6-0
5. Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. Rachel Mellor (DSU), 6-3, 6-1
6. Xenia De Luna (BYU) def. Julie Honczaruk (DSU), 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish: (4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6)
MATCH 2 RESULTS
BYU 7, Dixie State 0
Doubles Competition
1. Leah Heimuli/Kara Lin (BYU) def. Rachel Mellor/Emma Templeman (DSU), 6-3
2. Emilee Astle/Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Julie Honczaruk/Ya-Chi Hsu (DSU), 6-2
3. Madeline Almeida/Elizabeth Tullis (BYU) def. Alysha Damron/Kate Longson (DSU), 6-1
Order of finish: (3, 1, 2)
Singles Competition
1. Kara Lin (BYU) def. Kyra Harames (DSU), 6-2, 6-0
2. Leah Heimuli (BYU) def. Alex Hildreth (DSU), 6-3, 6-0
3. Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Emma Templeman (DSU), 6-2, 6-2
4. Emilee Aste (BYU) def. Sabrina Longson (DSU), 6-0, 6-2
5. Xenia De Luna (BYU) def. Kate Longson (DSU), 6-1, 6-1
6. Elizabeth Tullis (BYU) def. Alysha Damron (DSU), 6-3, 6-3
Order of finish: (1, 4, 2, 3, 5, 6)