Women Win, Men Fall in MWC Matches

PROVO -- BYU tennis was on the road Thursday to start conference play; the No. 27 women's team beat Colorado State while the No. 69 men's team was upset by UNLV.

"Our confidence is really building and we're really starting to play well," BYU head women's coach Craig Manning said. "The conference teams are tough, but our girls are on top of their games right now and we got some great play from the whole team today."

Due to inclement weather, the match was played indoors on three courts and doubles was scheduled for after the singles competition in order to reduce match time. Five matches were started and finished and BYU won all but one in straight sets.

Seniors Lauren Jones and Sofia Holden and freshman Chie Hayasaka each won their fourth match in a row Thursday at nos. 2, 5 and 3, respectively. Anastasia Surkova won her third match in a row at no. 1 singles against Emily Kirchem from CSU, allowing Kirchem only three games total in the two sets. Kirchem was the only opponent that beat Surkova in the fall season, a match that went to three sets. Kristina Doerr also won her second in a row at no. 4. Dolly Chang was scheduled to play no. 6 if necessary, but Manning was pleased the match was over before then because Chang has been nursing a sore shoulder. The doubles matches were not played.

BYU improves to 12-5 on the season and 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference. CSU falls to 0-3 in conference and 5-7 on the year.

The men's team had several opportunities to turn the tide of the match, but was unable to do so. Thursday marked the first time in six years that the Cougars have lost to the Rebels.

"We're competing and fighting well," BYU head coach Brad Pearce said. "We have opportunities, but we're just not taking advantage of them. When we do take advantage of them, we win. It's that simple. It's not like we're taking anybody lightly."

Cassidy Mears and Cale Planck were up 5-2 in their doubles match, but were unable to hold on and close out the victory and take the team doubles point. Planck also lost his singles match after a third-set battle. Senior James Ludlow had a match point in no. 1 singles, but lost in a tiebreaker in the third set as well.

The team drops to 9-10 on the year and 0-1 in the MWC. UNLV improves to 8-10 and 1-0.

The women will face off against Air Force on Friday and Wyoming on Saturday, both in Colorado. The men will meet New Mexico on Friday and No. 74 TCU on Saturday to complete a five-match road trip in California.

Match Results

Women's tennis

No. 27 BYU 5, CSU 0

Doubles:

Not Played

Singles:

No. 1: Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Emily Kirchem (CSU); 6-1, 6-2

No. 2: Lauren Jones (BYU) def. Lauren Strasburger (CSU); 6-4, 6-1

No. 3: Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Laura Neal (CSU); 5-7, 6-3, 6-4

No. 4: Kristina Doerr (BYU) def. Hilary Tyler (CSU); 7-6, 6-3

No. 5: Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Anette Pohjalainen (CSU); 6-4, 6-4

No. 6: Not Played

Men's tennis

UNLV 5, No. 69 Brigham Young 2

Aztec Tennis Center (San Diego, Calif.)

Doubles

1. Elliot Wronski/Brett Hunter (UNLV) def. James Ludlow/Dominik Kaufhold (BYU), 8-6

2. Chip Hand/Jonathan Sanchez (BYU) def. Jonathan Hooper/Wesley Burrows (UNLV), 8-3

3. David Campbell/Slavko Bijelica (UNLV) def. Cassidy Mears/Cale Planck (BYU), 9-7

UNLV wins doubles point

Singles

1. No. 59 Elliot Wronski (UNLV) def. No. 105 James Ludlow (BYU), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2)

2. Dominik Kaufhold (BYU) def. Brett Hunter (UNLV), 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

3. Chip Hand (BYU) def. David Campbell (UNLV), 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3

4. Wesley Burrows (UNLV) def. Jonathan Sanchez (BYU), 7-5, 6-4

5. Slavko Bijelica (UNLV) def. Cassidy Mears (BYU), 6-3, 6-1

6. Luca Barlocchi (UNLV) def. Cale Planck (BYU), 6-1, 3-6, 7-5