STILLWATER -- After three matches in three days, the No. 61 BYU women’s team completed its perfect weekend record with a 6-1 win over No. 73 Oklahoma State. With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-5 and extend their winning streak to four matches.
“We’ve been working hard to play the sort of tennis that’s fun and exciting,” BYU coach Craig Manning said. “”I was so happy with the team’s effort.”
BYU came out strong in pairs play, taking all three doubles matches for only the third time this season. The team clinched the point after wins on courts one and two, but a hard-fought victory at the No. 3 position gave the Cougars their first doubles sweep since their win over Wichita State in early February.
“We changed things around in doubles,” Manning said. “I love the combinations at one, two and three now.”
Momentum stayed with BYU in singles, and the Cougars notched wins on courts one, three and four to secure the match. Great three-set efforts by Kristina Doerr and Elle Carney gave the squad its remaining two points to bring the total to six.
“It’s only one step in the right direction, but it feels good when things start coming together,” Manning said.
The Cougars will resume the season March 16 in Colo. against No. 43 Denver.
Match ResultsBrigham Young- 6
Oklahoma State- 1
Doubles
No. 1 - Kristina Doerr/McCall Jones (BYU) def. Alisa Buslaieva/Iryna Khatsko 8-4
No. 2 - Elle Carney/Megan Price (BYU) def. JoAnne Karaitiana/Sasha Belova 8-3
No. 3 - Elizaveta Ezhova/Romina Nedakovic (BYU) def. Maryna Tkachenko/Nataliya Shatkovskaya 8-7 (5)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
No. 1 - Jones (BYU) def. Karaitiana 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 - Doerr (BYU) def. Shatkovskaya 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
No. 3 - Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Tkachenko 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 - Price (BYU) def. Belova 7-5, 6-1
No. 5 - Khatsko (OSU) def. Nedakovic 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 - Carney (BYU) def. Buslaieva 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
PROVO -- BYU will look to build on last week’s 4-3 win over Nevada with three road matches this week. The No. 61 women’s tennis team will face Kansas, Kansas State and No. 73 Oklahoma State.
BYU will begin the weekend against Kansas State Thursday. The Wildcats are coming off a 6-1 win over UALR that improved them to 3-2 on the season. The Cougars dropped only one singles match in last year’s 6-1 victory against KSU at home.
The squad will have a quick turnaround, facing Kansas Friday. The Jayhawks currently own a 5-3 record. They earned their fifth win of the season last week in a 7-0 sweep of UMKC. The Cougars defeated Kansas 7-0 last year in what Manning called one of the best performances of the year up to that point.
Saturday will bring another match, this one against No. 73 Oklahoma State. The Cowgirls most recent result was a 7-0 sweep of Abilene Christian, and they are now 5-4. BYU last met Oklahoma State in 2007, and the Cougars took the match 6-1.
The match against Kansas begins at 11 a.m. Thursday. Friday’s and Saturday’s matches both start at 1 p.m.