MALIBU, Calif. – The BYU women's tennis team was defeated on the road Saturday afternoon by West Coast Conference foe, No. 9 Pepperdine, 4-0.
"It was a tough weekend against two good teams," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We played some good tennis but came up short so we are going to go back and work hard this next week and finish strong at home."
In No. 3 doubles, junior Taylah Beckman and sophomore Samantha Smith were defeated 6-0 by the Waves' Ashley Lahey and Adrijana Lekaj to give Pepperdine (18-1, 7-0 WCC) an early lead. Sophomores Kate Cusick and Polina Malykh fought it out in No. 2 doubles against No.85 Evgeniya Levashova and Dzina Milovanovic of Pepperdine, but came up short 6-3 to give the Waves the doubles point. No. 1 doubles did not finish.
With a one-point Waves' lead entering singles play, Cusick took on ranked No.101 Laura Guble of Pepperdine in the No. 4 slot. Cusick hung tough, but was defeated 6-2, 6-2 as Guble won her 10th match in a row and increased the Waves' lead to 2-0.
Freshman Madeline Almeida competed against Milovanovic in No. 5 singles and lost 6-1, 6-2. Malykh fought in No. 3 singles to help the Cougars (11-8, 4-3 WCC) regain some ground in her matchup against Pepperdine's Mayar Sherif. After a close first set, Sherif proved to be too much and completed the 4-0 sweep with a 6-4, 6-0 over Malykh. No. 1 ,2 and 6 singles did not finish.
The Cougars return home for their final matches of the regular season. BYU will welcome WCC foes Pacific on Friday, April 20 at 12:00 p.m. MT and Saint Mary's the following day at 11:00 a.m. MT. The matches will be played on the Outdoor Tennis Courts, weather permitting. Live stats for the match can be found on BYU's online schedule.
Match Results
Singles competition
1. #24 Stefani, Luisa (PEP) vs. Mayci Jones (BYU) 6-1, 2-3, unfinished
2. #14 Lahey, Ashley (PEP) vs. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 6-2, 3-2, unfinished
3. Sherif, Mayar (PEP) def. Polina Malykh (BYU) 6-4, 6-0
4. #101 Gulbe, Laura (PEP) def. Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. Madeline Almeida (BYU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Lekaj, Adrijana (PEP) vs. Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-3, 3-2, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. #9 Sherif, Mayar/Stefani, Luisa (PEP) vs. Mayci Jones/Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 5-3, unfinished
2. #85 Levashova, Evgeniya/Milovanovic, Dzina (PEP) def. Polina Malykh/Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-3
3. Lekaj, Adrijana/Lahey, Ashley (PEP) def. Taylah Beckman/Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-0
Match Notes:
BYU 11-8
Pepperdine University 17-1; National ranking #9
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2); Singles (4,5,3)