SAN DIEGO - The BYU women's tennis team lost to San Diego St. in the finals of the Mountain West Conference Championships on Saturday in San Diego. With the loss, the Cougars finished the season with a 13-11 overall record and a second-place finish in the MWC.
The Cougars took the early 1-0 advantage by winning the doubles point. With the doubles matches knotted at one apiece, BYU's number three duo of Tara Porter and Olga Boulytcheva battled back from a 5-2 deficit to beat SDSU's Patricia Graf and Katalina Romero, 9-7.
MWC Player of the Year Silvia Tornier got the Aztecs rolling in singles play as she downed BYU's Leeza Klempner, 6-1, 6-1, at the number one spot, tying the score at one. SDSU's Indra Erichsen and Katja Karrento brought home the next two singles wins for the Aztecs at the six and four positions, respectively. Katalina Romero clinched the match for San Diego State with her straight set (6-1, 6-3) victory over the Cougars' Olga Boulytcheva at number three singles.
With the win, the 23rd-ranked Aztecs earn an automatic bid to this year's NCAA Women's Tennis Championships. Aztec head coach Peter Mattera was awarded Coach of the Year honors.
San Diego State pushed its record to 23-5 overall. The No. 54 Cougars fell to 13-11 on the year and must wait until next week to see if they will receive an at-large bid into the NCAA Championships.
Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship
Championship Match - SDSU Tennis Courts, San Diego, Calif. - April 26, 2003
(2) San Diego State 4, (4) BYU 1
Singles
1. Silvia Tornier (SDSU) def. Leeza Klempner (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Lindsey Hedberg (SDSU) vs. Dominique Reynolds (BYU) 6-2, 3-4 DNF
3. Katalina Romero (SDSU) def. Olga Boulytcheva (BYU) 6-1, 6-3
4. Katja Karrento (SDSU) def. Hadley Macfarlane (BYU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Patricia Graf (SDSU) vs. Nicole Schneider (BYU) 4-6, 6-2, 0-3 DNF
6. Indra Erichsen (SDSU) vs. Tara Porter (BYU) 6-1, 7-5
Doubles
1. Tornier/Erichsen (SDSU) def. Klempner/Reynolds (BYU) 8-4
2. Macfarlane/Schneider (BYU) def. Hedberg/Karrento (SDSU) 8-5
3. Porter/Boulytcheva (BYU) def. Graf/Romero (SDSU) 9-7