PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis released its schedule for the upcoming season Thursday. The schedule features five tournaments in the fall to warm up for regular season matches beginning in January.
The Cougars will open play this year hosting the annual BYU Invitational Sept. 18-20. BYU will then play in the Cal Nike Invitational at UC Berkeley (Sept. 25-27), Utah State Hidden Duel (Oct. 3-4), ITA Regionals (Oct. 15-19) and the Arizona State Invite (Nov. 7-8).
Regular-season play begins Jan. 14 as the Cougars host Utah State at BYU’s Indoor Tennis Facility. The Cougars also play host to Boise State (Feb. 6), Oregon (Mar. 14) and Utah (Apr. 8). West Coast Conference play begins on Feb. 20 as the Cougars host Portland. BYU plays host to last season's West Coast Conference champions, Pepperdine, on Mar. 28. The Waves were the Cougars' only conference loss last season, losing at Pepperdine 2-5. The WCC Championships will be held Apr. 22-25.
Under the direction of reigning WCC Coach of the Year, Lauren Jones-Spencer, the Cougars are poised for a huge season in 2015. BYU returns six starters from a team that placed second in the WCC with an 8-1 conference record, the most successful season for BYU women’s tennis since 2007.
A trio of talented sophomores–Mayci Jones, Toby Miclat and Savannah Ware–will look to build on their successful freshmen campaigns to help BYU succceed. Jones, the younger sister of the head coach, led the Cougars as a freshman in the No. 1 singles slot and earned a place on the All-WCC Second Team. Miclat led all Cougars in wins, going 23-10 in singles, and earned All-WCC Honorable Mention honors in doubles while playing with Jones. Ware rounded out the trio by receiving All-WCC Honorable Mention honors in singles and doubles with her partner Nicolette Tran.
The senior duo of Meghan Sheehan-Dizon and Morgan Anderson-Littlewood look to provide BYU with veteran leadership and dominant doubles performances this season. Last year, the two were an All-WCC Honorable Mention doubles pair after going 10-1 overall and 7-1 in WCC play.
The Cougars cracked national rankings last year and beat a top-40 opponent (No. 38 Saint Mary’s) for the first time since 2007. BYU will look to build on that momentum as this season begins.