PROVO -- Tough play at the top of the line was not enough to propel the BYU women’s tennis team over No. 29 UNLV Friday. The Cougars fell 4-3 in their last home match of the year to drop to 1-2 in conference play and 5-11 overall.
“The players fought hard,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “The girls feel like we’re developing momentum and the capacity to play more consistently as a team.”
For the second day in a row, Kristina Doerr and McCall Jones were the first pair to finish in doubles play. The BYU tandem handily defeated their opponents 8-3 at the No. 1 position. Despite a strong start, juniors Elle Carney and Liza Ezhova fell on court two 8-5. Chie Hayaska and Aubrey Paul were down 6-4 before rallying back to tie the score at seven-all. But the Rebels won the match at 9-7 to clinch the doubles point.
“Our area of emphasis is going to be doubles as we close the season,” Johnson said. “We’ve gotten to the point where we’re playing solid tennis at the top of the lineup, and we’re so close.”
In the last home match of her collegiate career, Doerr earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory at the No. 2 spot. No. 52 Jones followed with a straight-set upset of No. 37 Kristina Nedeltcheva on court one to put the Cougars up 2-1. BYU quickly lost the lead when Elle Carney dropped her match at the No. 4 position.
Hayasaka, also playing in her last home match, battled to a three-set win over UNLV’s Nives Pavlovic on court three. The bottom of the Rebel lineup proved too much for the Cougars and the visitors earned two more victories to secure the match at 4-3.
“Both of our senior played great matches and they have been good competitors for the team over the past four years,” Johnson said. “We appreciate all they’ve done but we’re not finished yet.”
Next week, BYU will hit the road to play Air Force, Colorado State and Wyoming.
Results
BYU-3
No. 29 UNLV-4
Doubles
1. Doerr/Jones (BYU) def. Albers/Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 8-3
2. Maskaljun/Razina (UNLV) def. Carney/Ezhova (BYU) 8-5
3. Hidvegi/Pavlovic (UNLV) def. Hayasaka/Paul (BYU) 9-7
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
1. No. 52 M. Jones (BYU) def. No. 37 K. Nedeltcheva (UNLV) 6-2, 6-3
2. K. Doerr (BYU) def. No. 111 J. Albers (UNLV) 6-4, 6-4
3.C. Hayasaka (BYU) def. N. Pavlovic (UNLV) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
4. A. Hidvegi (UNLV) def. E. Carney (BYU) 6-3, 6-4
5. A. Maskaljun (UNLV) def. L. Ezhova (BYU) 6-0, 6-1
6. R. Terzieva (UNLV) def. A. Young (BYU) 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5