PROVO, Utah – Five members of the BYU women's tennis team finished competing in the three-day BYU Invitational held this weekend. The tournament also featured players from Montana, Utah State and Weber State.
"It was a good weekend filled with a lot of tennis," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "I'm happy with how we are looking this year. We have a lot of talent so if we work hard and focus on the right things I think we will see some solid results."
BYU's Samantha Smith reached the championship match in singles play but was defeated by Utah State’s Nini Guensler, 6-1, 6-1.
Smith, a freshman from Las Vegas, defeated Montana’s Stanzi Tuijt 6-3,6-4, on Thursday before pulling out a three-set victory over Weber State’s Sara Parker, 7-5, 1-6, 7-5, on Friday.
In the semifinal matchup, Smith faced fellow freshman teammate Kate Cusick, winning 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the final. Cusick reached the semifinal after a 7-6 (4), 6-4 win over the Aggies’ Ekaterina Tugarinova and a first round win over Weber State’s Tereza Pilzova, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
Also in action for the Cougars, freshman Taylah Beckman defeated Weber State’s Devi Hasan 6-2, 7-6 in the first round before falling 7-5, 6-3 to Caitlin Herb of Weber State. Senior Demi Perkinson fell in a tight match against the Wildcats' Morgan Dickason, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, and sophomore Sarah Clifford fell 6-3, 6-0 to Motana’s Lidia Dukic.
In doubles action, Beckman and Cusick combined to beat Weber State’s Hasan and Morgan Dickason, 6-4, but fell to the Wildcats' Sara Parker and Dominique Beauvais in the following round, 6-3.
On the other side of the bracket, BYU’s Clifford and Smith opened the first round with a 6-2 victory over Weber State’s Herb and Pilzova, but fell in the following round, 6-3, to Utah State’s Guensler and Tugarinova.
The Cougars continue fall play Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the Cal Nike Invitational in Berkeley, California.