PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis (11-5, 1-0 WCC) won its fourth straight match, defeating Utah State (5-5, 0-0 MWC), 6-1, on Saturday at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

“It was a team effort across-the-board for both matches this weekend,” said BYU head coach Holly Hasler. “I'm proud of the girls for taking care of business. We are fighting harder, adapting to adversity and playing with more confidence. Conference matches are what we’ve been working for... excited that time has finally come!”

The Cougars switched up their doubles look, placing Leah Heimuli and Madeline Almeida Wanlass together as the No. 2 team and Emilee Astle and Elizabeth Tullis at No. 3. The No. 1 duo stayed the same, with Anastasia Abramyan and Helen Jiao.

The change paid off, as Heimuli and Wanlass quickly defeated Gabrielle Dekkers and Lisa Kung, 6-2. Shortly after, Carolina Millan and Annaliese County took down Astle and Tullis, 6-3. On Court 1 and up 5-2 in the set, the Cougars struggled to clinch the doubles point. Utah State closed the gap to just 5-4, winning back-to-back game points while locked at deuce. Abramyan and Jiao overcame the momentum swing, however, and won the next game to clinch the doubles point for BYU, 6-4.

Abramyan rode the momentum earned in her doubles match as she opened singles play with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Millan. Jiao picked up a 6-1, 6-1 win over Kung less than a minute later, collecting her seventh consecutive win to move to 11-3 on the year, while also giving BYU a dominating 3-0 lead in the match. Heimuli gave BYU its fourth needed point in a 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Lombera got the Aggies on the board as she defeated Astle, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. It was just Astle’s fourth loss of the year (11-4), ending a five-match win streak. Wanlass continued to be dominant in singles matches, beating Dekkers, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Wanlass’s perfect record on the year stays intact at 7-0. De Luna split sets with County, and the third set was decided in a first-to-10 tiebreaker. The two stayed close before de Luna was able to pull out a 12-10 victory.

The Cougars will jump back into WCC play next week as they travel to the Bay Area to play Saint Mary’s on Friday and Pacific on Saturday.

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 6, Utah State 1

Doubles Competition

1. Anastasia Abramyan/Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Naya Tillitt/Renata Lombera (USU), 6-4

2. Leah Heimuli/Madeline Almeida Wanlass (BYU) def. Gabrielle Dekkers/Lisa Kung (USU), 6-2

3. Carolina Millan/Annaliese County (USU) def. Emilee Astle/Elizabeth Tullis (BYU), 6-3

Order of finish: (2, 3, 1)

Singles Competition

1. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Carolina Millan (USU), 6-2, 6-0

2. Leah Heimuli (BYU) def. Zara Ryan (USU), 7-5, 6-3

3. Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Lisa Kung (USU), 6-1, 6-1

4. Renata Lombera (USU) def. Emilee Astle (BYU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

5. Xenia de Luna (BYU) def. Annaliese County (USU), 6-4, 2-6, 1-0 (10)

6. Madeline Almeida Wanlass (BYU) def. Gabrielle Dekkers (USU), 7-6 (3), 6-1

Order of finish: (1, 3, 2, 4, 6, 5)

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis opens conference play with Portland coming to town on Friday, as well as its final in-state match on Saturday against Utah State. The two contests will conclude the five-match homestand.

“We are anxious to start conference play (this) week,” said BYU head coach Holly Hasler. “Especially since our season was cut short the day before our first conference match last year. We have sophomores that have never played a team in the WCC.  It’s a little weird, but we are ready and have been anxiously waiting a very long time for this week to come.”

BYU Notes (9-5, 0-0 West Coast Conference)

• BYU is 9-5. The Cougars defeated Weber State, 6-1, to move to 6-1 at home on the season. BYU will have the opportunity to move to 8-1 as it opens conference play on Friday and welcomes its third and final in-state opponent of the season on Saturday.
• BYU has wins over Grand Canyon, Seattle, Boise State, Sacramento State, Fresno State, Dixie State (twice), Weber State (twice). The Cougars have losses to Utah, Oregon, Denver, Colorado, Cal Poly.
• Sophomores Emilee Astle (10-3), Helen Jiao (9-3) and Xenia de Luna (7-1) combine for a 26-7 record in singles matches. The dynamic trio makes up 46% of the Cougars' singles wins. Overall, BYU is winning 69% of its doubles and singles matches. 

Head Coach – Holly Parkinson Hasler

• Alma Mater: BYU, 1998
• Division I Career Record: 28-19 (3rd season)
• Record at BYU: Same

BYU Doubles Records

1. Anastasia Abramyan & Madeline Almeida Wanlass (0-1)
2. Leah Heimuli & Kara Lin (5-1)
3. Emilee Astle & Helen Jiao (4-1)
4. Madeline Almeida Wanlass & Elizabeth Tullis (2-0)
5. Anastasia Abramyan & Elizabeth Tullis (2-0)
6. Anastasia Abramyan & Qianxin Kong (0-1)
7. Anastasia Abramyan & Helen Jiao (5-3)
8. Leah Heimuli & Emilee Astle (4-3)
9. Qianxin Kong & Kara Lin (3-1)
10. Kara Lin & Elizabeth Tullis (3-1)

BYU Singles Records

1. Anastasia Abramyan (6-4)
2. Leah Heimuli (8-5)
3. Kara Lin (5-8)
4. Emilee Astle (10-3)
5. Helen Jiao (9-3)
6. Madeline Almeida Wanlass (5-0)
7. Xenia De Luna (7-1)
8. Elizabeth Tullis (3-0)
9. Qianxin Kong (3-1)

Portland Notes (1-4, 0-0 WCC)

• Portland is 1-4 and is coming off a 5-2 home loss to Montana.  
• The Pilots' win was over Portland State. Their losses are to Montana, Portland State, Eastern Washington, Oregon.
• Portland is 0-3 at home, but 1-1 on the road. They were swept at Oregon to open the season but won a rematch against Portland State just a day after the Vikings beat them, 5-2. 
• The Pilots have lost the doubles point in three of its five matches. BYU is 8-1 when it wins the doubles point. The lone loss came in a 5-2 loss at Colorado.
• BYU beat Portland, 4-1, in the last meeting between the two schools. Just two BYU players who competed in that match are competing on this year’s squad. Anastasia Abramyan and Madeline Almeida Wanlass each came away with a singles and doubles win. Graduate senior Polina Malykh also won her singles and doubles matches but is yet to play this season. 

Head Coach – Susie Campbell

• Alma Mater: Oklahoma, 1989
• Division I Career Record: 253-237-1 (29th Season)
• Record at Portland: Same

Portland Match Information — Friday, Mar. 19

• Time: 10:00 a.m. MDT
• Location: BYU Indoor Tennis Courts
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast
• Live Stream (if match is played indoors): BYU Tennis Stream

Utah State Notes (5-4, 0-0 MWC)

• Utah State is 5-4 and is coming off a 6-1 victory at Idaho State on Sunday. 
• Utah State has wins over Idaho State, Weber State, UTEP, New Mexico State, Dixie State. The Aggies’ losses have come to Northern Arizona, Colorado, Denver, Idaho State.  
• The Aggies stumbled in their first three road matches of the year but have now won back-to-back away from home and are riding a three-match win streak. 
• BYU came away with a 5-2 win last year in Logan. BYU leads the all-time series 11-1 and has won the last four meetings.

Head Coach – Sean McInerney

• Record at Utah State: 86-75 (8th Season)

Utah State Match Information — Saturday, Mar. 20

• Time: 11:00 a.m. MDT
• Location: BYU Indoor Tennis Courts
• Live Stats: StatBroadcast
• Live Stream (if match is played indoors): BYU Tennis Stream