No. 38 BYU Falls to No. 30 Stanford, 4-2, in NCAA First Round

Cougars conclude season with 19 wins.

Author Halle Hadley
No. 38 BYU Falls to No. 30 Stanford, 4-2, in NCAA First RoundNo. 38 BYU Falls to No. 30 Stanford, 4-2, in NCAA First Round

MALIBU, Calif. — No. 38 BYU fell to No. 30 Stanford, 4-2, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday morning at the Ralphs-Straus Tennis Center.

The Cougars (19-9) opened the match by claiming the doubles point with wins on courts two and three. After Stanford took a 6-2 decision on court one, Yuyun Chen and Sage Bergeson responded with a 6-4 win at No. 2 doubles. Sue Yan Tan and Bella Lewis followed with a 6-2 victory on court three to secure the point for BYU.

Stanford (14-10) answered in singles, winning four matches to clinch the team victory. The Cardinal earned straight-set wins on courts three and two before taking control at the top of the lineup.

Monika Ekstrand defeated Gracie Levelston 7-5, 6-2 at No. 1 singles, and Alyssa Ahn topped Kendall Kovick 6-2, 6-3 on court two. Tianmei Wang added a 6-2, 6-1 win over Tan at No. 3.

Bella Lewis picked up BYU’s second point with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Emma Sun on court six. Stanford clinched the match at No. 4 singles, where Caroline Driscoll defeated Chen 7-6(5), 6-3.

The match at No. 5 singles between Sein Myoung and Bergeson went unfinished.

BYU concludes the season with a 19-9 overall record, its most dual-match wins since the 2006-07 season. The Cougars reached a program-high No. 27 national ranking during the year, also their highest since 2006-07.

The doubles team of Kendall Kovick and Gracie Levelston climbed to No. 28 in the ITA rankings, the fourth-highest doubles ranking in program history. The duo also captured an ITA Regional Championship and advanced to the NCAA Doubles Round of 16 during the fall season.

Freshman Sage Bergeson led BYU with 24 singles wins, one of the top marks by a freshman in program history.

Friday’s appearance marked BYU’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2019 and the program’s 11th all-time.

Doubles Results

  1. Ekstrand/Driscoll (STAN) def. Levelston/Kovick (BYU): 6-2
  2. Chen/Bergeson (BYU) def. Ahn/Wang (STAN): 6-4
  3. Tan/Lewis (BYU) def. Myoung/Shaffer (STAN): 6-2

Singles Results

  1. Ekstrand (STAN) def. Levelston (BYU): 7-5, 6-2
  2. Ahn (STAN) def. Kovick (BYU): 6-2, 6-3
  3. Wang (STAN) def. Tan (BYU): 6-2, 6-1
  4. Driscoll (STAN) def. Chen (BYU): 7-6(5), 6-3
  5. Myoung (STAN) vs. Bergeson (BYU): unfinished
  6. Lewis (BYU) def. Sun (STAN): 7-5, 6-2