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PROVO -- BYU women’s tennis opened home play with an upset over No. 44 Washington State Friday. The No. 47 Cougars controlled the match, capturing the doubles point and five of six singles matches to hold WSU to a 6-1 scoreline. With the win, BYU improved to 1-1 on the season while Washington State fell to 3-1.

The Cougars had solid doubles performances with freshmen McCall Jones and Megan Price dominating their opponents 8-1. Kristina Doerr and partner Romina Nedakovic clinched the doubles point with an 8-3 win on court two. After leading 6-4, BYU’s Chie Hayasaka and Elle Carney suffered the only Cougar doubles loss of the day in a tiebreak at the No. 3 position.

“Everybody did exactly what we’ve been working on in practice this week,” BYU coach Craig Manning said.

Doerr started things out for BYU in singles play, breezing past Washington State’s Ioana Oprea 6-0, 6-1. Jones followed suit, knocking off her opponent 6-1, 6-2 at the No. 1 position.

Nedakovic secured the win for the Cougars after her victory on court three. She overcame WSU senior Aleksandra Cekic in straight sets. Carney added to BYU’s total with a 6-2, 6-2 win on court five before a loss on court six gave Washington State its lone point.

Washington State’s Marina Nicolas took the first set 7-6 against Price at No. 4. The freshman fought back to win the second 6-3 to force a tiebreak. The players traded shots until Price pulled ahead and sealed the victory with an ace.

“We just focused on playing our game and trying to improve, and when we do that things tend to go our way,” Manning said. “We’ll see how we do against Washington Saturday.”

BYU will continue its season Saturday against No. 38 Washington at noon at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts. Admission to the match is free, and the team will provide pizza and prizes for fans. All BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public all day Saturday.

Results

No. 47 Brigham Young University- 6

No. 44 Washington State- 1

January 23, 2009

Doubles

1. Jones/Price (BYU) def. Cekic/Selaru (WSU) 8-1

2. Doerr/Nedakovic (BYU) def. Fournier/Oprea (WSU) 8-3

3. Nicolas/Gomez (WSU) def. Carney/Hayasaka (BYU) 7-6 (7)

Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

BYU wins the doubles point

Singles

1. M. Jones (BYU) def. E. Fournier (WSU) 6-1, 6-2

2. K. Doerr (BYU) def. I. Oprea (WSU) 6-0, 6-1

3. R. Nedakovic (BYU) def. A. Cekic (WSU) 6-3, 6-3*

4. M. Price (BYU) def. M. Nicolas (WSU) 6-7, 6-3, 10-7

5. E. Carney (BYU) def. B. Selaru (WSU) 6-2, 6-2

6. J. Gomez (WSU) def. J. Jensen (BYU) 6-0, 6-0

* denotes clinching match—Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3, 5, 6, 4

PROVO -- Coming off a tough loss to No. 33 South Carolina, the No. 47 BYU women’s tennis team will hosts its first matches of the season this weekend. The Cougars will open play at home against No. 44 Washington State Friday and No. 38 Washington.

“Our practice this week has been outstanding,” BYU coach Craig Manning said. “I’m excited for this weekend.”

Washington State is returning to play after a 7-0 sweep of Weber State to start the season.

Washington also kicked off its season last week with a 7-0 sweep of Portland and includes No. 28 Venise Chan.

Last season, both teams edged out the Cougars 4-3 on the road, but BYU did show its strength in pairs play winning the doubles point against Washington and Washington State.

“The pieces are falling into place,” Manning said. “Things will be great; we just need time.”

Friday’s match begins at 11 a.m. and play on Saturday starts at noon. Admission to the matches is free and the team will provide free pizza and prizes for fans. BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are available to the public after 4 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.