Cougars conclude play at BYU Invitational

PROVO, Utah -- Six members of the Cougars women's tennis team finished competing in the three-day BYU Invitational held at the school's outdoor tennis courts. The tournament also featured players from Boise State, Washington State and Utah State.

Results: Singles | Doubles | Consolation

"Being the first tournament it was good for us to play a lot of matches," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We had a lot of ups and downs but I think the girls are headed in the right direction." 

BYU's Brittanie Eraso was the only remaining Cougar playing in the singles consolation bracket but fell 7-6 (4), 6-3 to BSU's Nancy Menjivar in the semifinal. 

"Brittanie fought hard and had some close sets in a match that was pretty tight," coach Jones-Spencer said. "We'll keep working to be ready to play better when we go to our next tournament."

Other Cougar players participated today in exhibition matches that will count towards pre-season ITA rankings. BYU's Toby Miclat defeated WSU's Trang Huyhn 3-6, 6-2, 10-8 and combined with teammate Erica Valimaki to win a doubles exhibition 6-2 over WSU's Barbora Michalkova and Aneta Miksovska. 

BYU's Demi Daniels and Sarah Clifford also participated in singles exhibition matches. Both were defeated in separate matches by WSU's Michalkova with Daniels falling 6-0, 6-0 and Clifford falling 6-3, 7-5. Daniels also dropped a closely contested match decided in a 10-point tiebreaker against USU's Alice Patch (6-7, 6-4, 10-8).

"I think all the girls competed pretty well today," coach Jones-Spencer said. "Our goal is to be playing our best tennis by the time we get to the ITA Regional tournament and as long as we're working hard we'll get to where we need to be."  

WSU's Donika Bashota defeated BSU's Teal Vosburge 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the singles draw final while WSU's Lize Leenknecht defeated BSU's Menjivar 6-1, 6-4 in the singles consolation final. 

The Cougars next preseason action will be Oct. 2-4 at the Cal Nike Invitational in Berkeley, California.