Cougars top WCC foe Gonzaga 4-2 at home

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PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis bested West Coast Conference foe Gonzaga 4-2 on Friday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

"A huge win today," BYU head coach Holly Parkinson Hasler said. "It's amazing what can happen when you come together as a team. We were down 5-2 in the deciding doubles match and to pull that out was a huge boost of confidence going into singles. Our goal was to keep a 'play to win' mindset, and I was proud of the girls for executing. Today's win also proved how much we learned from last weekend's 4-3 loss."

The Cougars (8-5, 2-0 WCC) came out and claimed the doubles point over the Zags (6-7, 1-1 WCC). Samantha Smith and Taylah Beckman made quick work at No. 3 doubles with a 6-2 victory over Vlada Medvedcova and Sara Komer. At No. 1 doubles, Kate Cusick and Anastasia Abramyan fell 2-6 to Sophie Whittle and Graciela Rosas.

Down 5-2 at match point, Polina Malykh and Madeline Almeida battled back to take the match 7-6 off a tiebreaker-win over Domonique Garley and Kate Ketels, clinching the doubles point for BYU.

Up 1-0 going into singles, Gonzaga claimed its first point of the match. Cusick fell to Whittle at No. 1 singles, 1-6, 4-6.

The Cougars fought to take the next two singles matches at the No. 3 and 4 spots. At fourth singles, Almeida defeated Medvedcova 6-1, 6-2 and Malykh had a three-set, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 victory over Garley at third singles.

The Zags put up a fight at No. 2 singles where Abramyan fell to Rosas 7-6, 6-4. BYU answered back with a win at No. 6 singles to clinch the match. Smith topped Ketels 6-2, 7-5 to give the match to the Cougars 4-2.

BYU remains at home to host WCC foe UC Irvine on Thursday, March 28, at 12 p.m. MDT.

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 4, Gonzaga 2

DOUBLES RESULTS

  1. WHITTLE, Sophie/ROSAS, Graciela (GON) def. Kate Cusick/Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 6-2
  2. Polina Malykh/Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. GARLEY, Domonique/KETELS, Kate (GON) 7-6 (7-3)
  3. Samantha Smith/Taylah Beckman (BYU) def. MEDVEDCOVA, Vlada/KOMER, Sara (GON) 6-2

Order of finish: (3, 1, 2)

SINGLES RESULTS

  1. WHITTLE, Sophie (GON) def. Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-1, 6-4
  2. ROSAS, Graciela (GON) def. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
  3. Polina Malykh (BYU) def. GARLEY, Domonique (GON) 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
  4. Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. MEDVEDCOVA, Vlada (GON) 6-1, 6-2
  5. Katie Fitt (BYU) vs. TSURUTA, Haruna (GON) 6-7 (3-7), 1-3, unfinished
  6. Samantha Smith (BYU) def. KETELS, Kate (GON) 6-2, 7-5

Order of finish: (1, 4, 3, 2, 6)