PROVO, Utah — No. 37 BYU women's tennis fell to No. 1 Oklahoma State 5-2 on Saturday, for its first loss in Big 12 play to start the season. Emilee Astle and Kendall Kovick secured a doubles upset for the Cougars by defeating the nationally ranked No. 5 team of Anastasiya Komar and Ange Oby Kajuru, 6-2.
“It's not often you get the opportunity to play the best team in the country on your home courts. Cougar Nation showed up and the girls came out with no fear of dominating doubles," said head coach Holly Hasler. "Although we fell short in all but one singles, we battled at every position and came out on top with two ranked wins. I was proud of our fight, belief, and energy. These opportunities are great to learn from and see where we can do better. The girls have their heads held high and are ready to keep competing.”
The loss snapped the Cougars’ seven-match win streak and was just their second defeat of the season, moving them to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play.
Astle and Kovick improved their season doubles record to 6-2 with their victory. Their win over Komar and Kajuru snapped Oklahoma State's top duo's ten-match winning streak in doubles together and was their first loss since they matched up against Ohio State in January.
Tina Li and Kara Wheatley continued their dominance in doubles play, remaining unbeaten with a record of 10-0.
Junior Kovick notched her seventh singles victory of the year by defeating No. 54 Lucia Peyre.
No. 74 Bobo Huang suffered her first singles match loss of the season to No. 7 Anastasiya Komar, dropping to 10-1 for the year.
Doubles:
- Astle/Kovick (BYU) def. No. 5 Komar/Kajuru (OSU), 6-2
- Huang/Sawhney (BYU) uf. Miyamoto/Gonzalez (OSU), 5-2
- Li/Wheatley (BYU) def. Carrington/Novak (OSU), 6-2
The order of finish was 1, 3
Astle and Kovick quickly jumped ahead 3-0 and extended their lead to 4-0 following a powerful serve from Astle. The Cougars led 5-1 and won the first doubles match for BYU 6-2, following a point at the net from Kovick, upsetting the No. 5 doubles pairing in the country.
Li and Wheatley took a 2-0 lead and later led 3-1 before the Cougars extended their lead to 4-2 following a missed shot from Oklahoma State. After being tied at deuce and leading 5-2, Li and Wheatley clinched the doubles point for BYU after back-to-back missed serves from Oklahoma State.
Huang and Sawhney were tied with Miyamoto and Gonzalez at 1-1 before the Cowgirls took a 3-1 lead. BYU evened the score at 4-4 and trailed 5-4 before the match was left unfinished.
The Cougars have won the doubles point in every match this season and are 13-0 in doubles in 2024.
Singles:
- No. 7 Anastasiya Komar (OSU) def. No. 74 Bobo Huang (BYU), 6-2, 6-3
- No. 4 Oby Kajuru (OSU) def. Tina Li (BYU), 6-0, 6-1
- Kendall Kovick (BYU) def. No. 54 Lucia Peyre (OSU), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
- No. 89 Safiya Carrington (OSU) def. Jacque Dunyon (BYU), 7-5, 6-1
- No. 84 Ayumi Miyamoto (OSU) def. Kara Wheatley (BYU), 6-3, 6-4
- Kristina Novak (OSU) def. Maddy Smith (BYU), 6-1, 6-0
The order of finish was 2, 4, 1, 6, 3, 5
Li trailed 3-0 and later fell behind 5-0 before losing the first set 6-0. In the second set, Li trailed 3-1 before Kajuru secured the first singles win of the afternoon for the Cowgirls with a 6-1 victory.
Dunyon and Carrington were even at 1-1 and later tied at 3-3 before Dunyon took a 5-3 lead. Carrington then evened the score at 5-5, maintained her momentum, and won the first set 7-5. Dunyon fell behind 2-1 in the second set and lost 6-1. Carrington's win was Oklahoma State's second singles victory of the match and put the Cowgirls ahead 2-1.
Huang fell behind 2-0 but cut her deficit to 2-1. Later in the set, Komar extended her lead to 5-2 and won the first set 6-2. Huang trailed 2-1 in the second set before Komar led 5-2. In the following game, Huang reduced her deficit to 5-3 before Komar won 6-3, extending Oklahoma State's lead to 3-1.
Smith trailed 3-1 at the start of her match before Novak won the first set 6-1. In the second set, Novak continued to lead, reaching 3-0 before winning 6-0, clinching the overall match for the Cowgirls.
Kovick jumped ahead 2-0 before she and Peyre were tied 3-3. Later in the set, Kovick led 5-3 and won the first set 6-4, following an ace. In the second set, Kovick trailed 2-0 and was later down 4-2 before Peyre won 6-3, forcing a third set. Kovick and Peyre were tied 2-2 at the start of the third set before Kovick took a 4-3 lead and later led 5-4, going on to win 6-4, securing BYU's first and only singles match victory.
Wheatley fell behind 2-1 in the first set before evening the score at 2-2. Later in the set, Wheatley trailed 5-3 and lost the first set 6-3. In the second set, Wheatley took a 3-1 lead before Miyamoto tied the set at 4-4. In the next game, Miyamoto took a 5-4 lead and won 6-4, securing Oklahoma State's fourth singles victory and concluding the overall match.
The Cougars are set to face Iowa State at 3 p.m. MDT next Thursday in Ames, kicking off a three-match road trip against the Cyclones, Kansas, and Texas Tech.