HONOLULU - Despite another doubles victory from senior Natella Nabieva and freshman Polina Malykh, BYU women's tennis fell 5-2 to Hawaii on Thursday at the UH Tennis Complex in Honolulu.
The Cougars' No. 3 doubles duo earned their fourth victory of the season to improve to 4-1, but the effort wasn't enough to help BYU (2-3, 0-0 Big West Conference) overcome Hawaii (5-2, 2-0 BWC).
In doubles, the Rainbow Warriors established an early advantage after Petra Melounouva and Roxanne Resma defeated sophomore Taylah Beckman and freshman Kate Cusick 6-1 on court one. BYU answered with Nabieva and Malykh, earning the 6-1 win over Hawaii's Arina Hruba and Michelle Pits at the No. 3 doubles slot. In second doubles, the 'Bows' Cindy Ngyuen and Klara Pribylova edged out BYU's Savannah Ware-Avina and Samantha Smith, 6-2, to take the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead.
Hawaii continued its momentum in singles play, picking up wins on each of the first four courts. Nyguen clinched the match for the Rainbow Warriors with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 1 singles over Nabieva. Playing at the No. 5 singles slot, Beckman defeated the Warriors' Nikola Dolakova 7-5, 6-3 to garner the Cougars' first singles victory. On court No. 5, Cusick also emerged victorious from a three-set battle to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 over Hawaii's Michelle Puts, but Hawaii won the match 5-2.
BYU will continue the island road trip with a neutral site match played at the UH Tennis Complex against Long Beach State on Friday, Feb. 24, at 12:00 p.m. HST.
Hawaii 5, BYU 2
Singles competition
1. Cindy Nguyen (UH) def. Natella Nabieva (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
2. Petra Melounova (UH) def. Savannah Ware-Avina (BYU) 7-5, 6-3
3. Marina Hruba (UH) def. Polina Malykh (BYU) 6-3, 6-2
4. Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Samantha Smith (BYU) 7-5, 6-3
5. Kate Cusick (BYU) def. Michelle Pits (UH) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
6. Taylah Beckman (BYU) def. Nikola Dolakova (UH) 7-5, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Petra Melounova/Roxanne Resma (UH) def. Kate Cusick/Taylah Beckman (BYU) 6-1
2. Cindy Nguyen/Klara Pribylova (UH) def. Savannah Ware-Avina/Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-2
3. Polina Malykh/Natella Nabieva (BYU) def. Marina Hruba/Michelle Pits (UH) 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (2,3,1,4,6,5)