FRESNO, Calif. – BYU women’s tennis (5-1) lost its first match of the year to Cal Poly (2-0), 6-1, on Saturday at the Mustang Tennis Complex. The Cougars now return to Provo after taking two of three on their trip to California.

“We struggled with our depth today and converting the big points,” said BYU head coach Holly Parkinson Hasler. “It was definitely a great learning experience going into next weekend’s matches.”

BYU stumbled out of the gates, as Anastasia Abramyan and Qianxin Kong were defeated in the No. 1 doubles spot by Cal Poly’s Emily Ackerman and Kim Bhunu, 6-1. The Cougars lost the doubles point when Emilee Astle and Helen Jiao were defeated by Dominique Stone and MacKenzie Worsnop, 6-3. Leah Heimuli and Kara Lin teamed up in the No. 2 spot and defeated Delanie Dunkle and Melissa LaMette, 7-6. 

The Mustangs kept things rolling into the singles matches. Dunkle defeated No. 4 Astle, 6-0, 6-1 to begin singles play. It was Astle’s first defeat of the season. Jiao couldn’t keep up with Ackerman, as she fell 6-3, 6-3. A loss by Abramyan in the No. 1 spot followed, 6-2, 6-4, to Stone. Wanlass collected the Cougars’ lone win of the day, defeating Grace Olyphant, 6-2, 6-2. After winning the first set, 6-1, Lin lost the next two, 6-3, 6-2. The day ended with Bhunu completing a comeback against Heimuli, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3.

The Cougars will travel to Boise next weekend to face Boise State (2-0) and Montana (1-2). The Boise State match will come first, with a start time of 5 p.m. MST on Friday, Feb. 12. The Broncos defeated Idaho State, 5-2, and Lewis-Clark State, 7-0, on Saturday to kick off their season.

MATCH RESULTS

BYU 1, Cal Poly 6

Doubles Competition

1. Emily Ackerman/Kim Bhunu (CPW) def. Anastasia Abrayam/Qianxin Kong (BYU), 6-1

2. Leah Heimuli/Kara Lin (BYU) def. Delanie Dunkle/Melissa LaMette (CPW), 7-6

3. Dominique Stone/MacKenzie Worsnop (CPW) def. Emilee Astle/Helen Jiao (BYU) 6-3

Order of finish: (1, 3, 2)

Singles Competition

1. Dominique Stone (CPW) def. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU), 6-2, 6-4

2. Kim Bhunu (CPW) def. Leah Heimuli (BYU), 5-7, 6-1, 6-3

3. Melissa LaMette (CPW) def. Kara Lin (BYU), 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

4. Delanie Dunkle def. Emilee Astle (BYU), 6-0, 6-1

5. Emily Ackerman (CPW) def. Helen Jiao (BYU), 6-3, 6-3

6. Madeline Almeida Wanlass (BYU) def. Grace Olyphant (CPW), 6-2, 6-2

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

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis (3-0) will make its first road trip of the year, traveling to Fresno, California to face the Fresno State Bulldogs (0-0) and Sacramento State Hornets (0-0) on Friday, Feb. 5, and the Cal Poly Mustangs (0-0) on Saturday, Feb. 6. The Fresno State match will begin at 11:00 a.m. PST, Sacramento State at 4:00 p.m. PST, and Cal Poly at 2:00 p.m. PST.

BYU came away with a pair of wins after a doubleheader against Dixie State on Saturday. The Cougars won the first match, 7-0, without dropping a single set. Their success carried over into the second match, winning again, 7-0. With its 3-0 record, BYU is looking for its first 4-0 start since the 2012-13 season.  

Fresno State begins their season on Wednesday when it hosts Fresno Pacific. The Bulldogs went 7-7 last year, finishing with a three-match losing streak. The two teams met up last season, with Fresno State winning in Provo, 4-3. The Bulldogs trailed 0-3 before winning the final four singles matches. The Cougars are 3-8 all-time against the Bulldogs.

BYU’s match against Sacramento State will be the season opener for the Hornets. Sacramento State finished last season 2-9, going 0-3 against teams from the West Coast Conference. Sacramento State, though young, returns a number of players with match experience. The Hornets return nine players from last year’s squad, including just one new face on their year’s roster. Sacramento State returns two seniors, in Ege Tomey, a Washington State transfer from Turkey, and Frana Ugarkovic, of Croatia. BYU is 1-0 all-time against Sacramento State.

Saturday's match will be the second ever between BYU and Cal Poly. Cal Poly finished last season with a record of 9-2, going 1-0 in neutral site matches. The Mustangs had an impressive 8-1 record in the state of California, losing just one match, on the road, 1-6, to San Diego State. 

In accordance with local health protocols, no fans will be allowed to attend. 

Doubles Records

1. Anastasia Abramyan & Madeline Wanlass (0-1)
2. Leah Heimuli & Kara Lin (2-1)
3. Emilee Astle & Helen Jiao (3-0)
4. Madeline Wanlass & Elizabeth Tullis (2-0)

Singles Records

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