Baylor and BYU To Battle In Women's NCAA Tennis

PROVO, Utah (May 13, 2005) With a one-point advantage going into singles play, No. 21 ranked BYU women's tennis team easily defeated Sacramento State, 4-1, Friday, in NCAA women's tennis to advance to the finals in one of 16 NCAA Regional competitions.

The Cougars will play No. 15 Baylor who defeated Niagara University in the other morning match 4-0.

Head coach Craig Manning was pleased with his team's performance. "We played really well today and could have closed out the match early, but we made it tighter than it should have been," said Manning.

BYU got off to a good start after winning the doubles point with an 8-5 win at number one doubles and an 8-1 win at the number three position.

In singles action, Rebecca Pike put the Cougars up 2-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Sacramento State's Anna Karavayeva at number six singles. It looked like BYU would cruise through with a 3-0 advantage after Anastasia Sourkova defeated Sac. State's Roberta Fessenko 6-3, 6-2 at number three singles.

Sacramento State came back with a hard fought win at the number one singles spot where Margarita Karnaukhova defeated BYU's Lauren Jones 6-7, 5-7 to make the score 3-1. But it was the Cougars' Dolly Chang who clinched the 4-1 win for BYU with a 6-2, 6-4 win at number five singles.

In the other match of the day, No. 15 Baylor made it look easy in their 4-0 sweep of Niagara University. Baylor won the doubles point with 8-2 set wins at the number one and two doubles. Then in singles they did not give Niagara a single point, winning at the number one, three and four singles in similar 6-0, 6-0 fashion.

Baylor (23-5) and BYU (22-3) will meet in the round of 32 on Saturday at 10 a.m., at BYU's outdoor courts, just south of the Smith Fieldhouse.

-AGATE-

BYU beat Sacramento State: 4-1

Doubles:

1. Anastasia Sourkova/Jenny Miccoli (BYU) def. Margarity Karnaukhova (Sac. St.) 8-5

2. Dolly Chang/Lauren Jones (BYU) vs. Anna Erikson/Klara Petersson (Sac. St.) dnf

3. Olga Boulytcheva/Sofia Holden (BYU def. Cecilia Helland/Roberta Fessenko (Sac.St.) 8-1

Singles:

1. M Karnaukhova (Sac.State) def. Lauren Jones (BYU) 6-7, 5-7

2. O. Boulytcheva (BYU( vs. A.Erikson (Sac.St.) dnf

3. A. Sourkova (BYU) def. R. Fessenko (Sac.St.) 6-3, 6-2

4. S. Holden (BYU) vs. K. Petersson (Sac.St.) dnf

5. D. Chang (BYU) def. C. Helland (Sac.St.) 6-2, 6-4

6. Rebecca Pike (BYU), def. A.Karavayeva (Sac.St) 6-3, 6-2

-AGATE-

Baylor beat Niagara: 4-0

Doubles:

1. Zuzana Cerna/Daniela Covello (BU) def. Mariam Al-Shikarchy/ Danielle Grenier (NU) 8-2

2. Zuzana Zemenova/Carolin Walter (BU) def. Jacquelyn Cary/Julieanne Prokopich (NU) 8-2

3. Caroline Korsawe/Klara Zrustova (BU) vs. Kendra Daigler/Shella Gargout (NU) dnf

Singles:

1. Z. Zemenova (BU) def. M.Al-Shikarchy (NU) 6-0, 6-0

2. Z. Cerna (BU) vs. D.Grenier (NU) dnf, 6-1, 5-0

3. C. Walter (BU) def. K. Daigler (NU) 6-0, 6-0

4. D. Covello (BU) def. J. Cary (NU) 6-0, 6-0

5. K. Zrustova (BU) vs. J. Prokopich (NU) dnf 6-0, 3-1

6. Z. Kvchnakova (BU) vs. S. Dargout (NU) dnf. 6-1, 3-1