ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Senior Mayci Jones advanced to the round of 16 in singles while three doubles pairs for BYU women's tennis advanced to the third round at the USTA/ITA Regional Championships held Thursday at the University of New Mexico.
Jones, the No. 12 seed in the tournament, defeated Utah’s Alexi Petrovic 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, before winning 6-4, 6-2 over Air Force’s TJ Fumagalli. In the next round, Jones will compete against Claudia Herrero of the University of Nevada, Reno.
Jones also picked up a doubles victory for BYU alongside freshman Polina Malykh. The duo defeated USU's Monika Van De Vondel and Lucy Octave 8-7(6) and will square off against Utah's Jena Cheng and Calton on Friday.
Senior Savannah Ware also saw success early in the day with a win over Utah's Taylor Calton, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, but fell in the next round to UNLV's Carol Yang, 6-2, 6-3.
Ware and freshman Samantha Smith also picked up a win in their second-round matchup with a close 8-7(5) win against Utah State's Nini Guensler and Sabrina Demerath.
Scoring the third doubles victory of the day for BYU, sophomores Taylah Beckman and Kate Cusick defeated New Mexico's Rachana Bhat and Andrea LeBlanc, 8-5.
Despite advancing to the second round, seniors Natella Nabieva and Demi Perkinson fell 8-4 to New Mexico's Ludivine Burguiere and Dominique Dulski.
The third round of the tournament continues Friday with doubles beginning at 9 a.m. MDT and singles play starting at 11 a.m. MDT.