Cougars Sweep Utes 7-0

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SALT LAKE -- In its second consecutive road win the No. 23-ranked BYU women's tennis team downed the Utah Utes on their own court in a 7-0 decision. With the win, the Cougars move to 9-3 on the season.

Standing out for BYU was the No. 2 doubles duo, Sofia Holden and Rebecca Pike. Holden and Pike played an extremely strong match against a tough Jessica Watts/Whitney Eber Utah doubles team winning in a quick 8-1 match.

"Sofia and Rebecca played so well at doubles today," head coach Craig Manning said. "I'm so impressed with that combination. They just play so well together."

Also posting big doubles wins for the Cougars were duos: Barbora Zahnova and Hadley Macfarlane at the No. 1 spot, and Olga Boulytcheva and Nicole Schneider at No. 3. With the three doubles wins; BYU claimed the first match point of the day.

In singles play the Cougars were nearly flawless. All six matches were done in two straight sets.

"Everyone stayed very focused today and played so tough, especially with such a vocal crowd," Manning said. "They (Utah) had a lot of fans here today and it was a lot of fun to play with that much energy coming from the crowd."

The Cougars will head to Oklahoma next week for three straight against Tulsa (Mar. 6), Oklahoma State (Mar. 8) and Oklahoma on March 9th.

BYU 7, Utah 0

Doubles:

Zahnova/Macfarlane def. Esrock/Saucedo8-4

Holden/Pike def. Eber/Watts8-1

Boulytcheva/Schneider def. Alder/Jackson8-2

Singles:

Barbora Zahnova def. Sheri Esrock6-1, 6-1

Sofia Holden def. Whitney Eber 6-5, 6-2

Lauren Jones def. Cinthia Saucedo6-4, 6-4

Rebecca Pike def. Jessica Watts6-3, 6-0

Hadley Macfarlane def. Janessa Jackson6-3, 6-4

Nicole Schneider def. Rachel Alder 6-3, 7-6