SALT LAKE CITY — The BYU women's tennis team suffered its first loss of the season Friday, falling to Utah 4-2.
"Tonight was a battle," said head coach Holly Hasler. "We came out strong and took the doubles point with great assertiveness. We struggled to keep that momentum in singles and started slow on too many courts. It was disappointing but we have to bounce back and be ready to go against Weber State tomorrow."
The Cougars (4-1, 0-0 Big 12) secured the doubles point to start the match but managed to win only one of the singles matches, giving the Utes the victory.
No. 100 Bobo Huang notched her third singles win of the year, upsetting No. 59 Marcela Lopez in straight sets.
Doubles
Astle/Kovick (BYU) def. Cruz/Lopez (UU) 6-4.
Huang/Sawhney (BYU) def. Kamper/Lyman (UU) 6-3.
Li/Wheatley (BYU) uf. Akid/Barksdale (UU) 5-4, unfinished.
Order of finish: 2, 1
Huang and Sawhney took an early 3-0 lead and cruised to the first doubles victory for the Cougars.
Astle and Kovick, tied 2-2 with Cruz and Lopez and trailing 3-2, evened their match at 3-all. The pairs were again tied at 4 before Astle and Kovick won two straight games to secure the doubles point for BYU.
Li and Wheatley, tied 3-3 with Akid and Barksdale, were leading 5-4 when their match was left unfinished.
The Cougars have secured the doubles point in every match this season.
Singles
No. 100 Bobo Huang (BYU) def. No. 59 Marcela Lopez (UU) 6-3, 7-5.
Kaila Barksdale (UU) def. Kaavya Sawhney (BYU) 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Yuhan Liu (UU) def. Tina Li (BYU) 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Kat Lyman (UU) def. Kara Wheatley (BYU) 6-1, 7-5.
Jacque Dunyon (BYU) uf. Emma Kamper (UU) 7-5, 3-6, 1-1, unfinished.
Sarah Akid (UU) def. Kendall Kovick (BYU) 6-2, 6-4.
Order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 2, 3
Kovick, trailing Akid 2-1, lost the first set 6-2. In the second set, Kovick led 2-1 but later trailed 3-2 and eventually fell, giving the Utes their first singles victory.
Huang, down 3-0 in her first set, fought back to tie the score at 3-3 and went on to win 6-3. Tied 3-3 in the second set, she took a 5-3 lead. Lopez tied the score at 5 before Huang secured the set 7-5, marking BYU's first singles win of the evening.
Wheatley and Lyman were tied 1-1 before Lyman dominated the first set 6-1. Wheatley, leading 2-0 in the second set, was tied at 4 and again at 5 before Lyman secured the set 7-5.
Sawhney, up 2-0, was overtaken as Barksdale won three straight games to lead 3-2. Sawhney, trailing 5-3, lost the first set 6-3. In the second set, tied at 6, Barksdale won the tiebreak 7-3, giving Utah a 3-2 overall match lead.
Li and Liu were tied 3-3 before Liu took a 5-3 lead and the first set 6-3. Li, leading 2-0 in the second set and later 5-4, went to a tiebreak after a 6-6 tie. Liu clinched the match for the Utes with a 7-2 tiebreak win.
Dunyon led Kamper 2-0 and 4-1 before Kamper tied it at 4. Dunyon took a 5-4 lead; Kamper tied it at 5. The match was left unfinished at 1-1 in the third set.
The Cougars next face Weber State in their home opener tomorrow, with the match starting at noon.