BYU earns second sweep in row, defeating UC Irvine 7-0

IRVINE, Calif. — BYU defeated UC Irvine 7-0 this afternoon to start its three-match road trip. The Cougars earned their second team sweep in a row and only lost one match in today's play.

"The girls fought hard today," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We didn't necessarily play our best on every court, but found a way to pull out a big 7-0 win on the road. I'm looking forward to building off what we did well and compete hard tomorrow."

In doubles play, BYU (2-0) went 2-1 against UC Irvine (1-4) to earn the first points of the match. Freshman Anastasia Abramyan and junior Taylah Beckman got the team off to a great start at No. 2 doubles defeating UC Irvine's Yulin Chen and Flor Amiri 6-2. In No. 3 doubles, sophomores Samantha Smith and Polina Malykh beat Stephanie Neguyen and Arianna Tilbury of UC Irvine to give the Cougars the doubles match point. Senior Mayci Jones and sophomore Kate Cusick, playing in No. 1 doubles fell to UC Irvine's Stephanie Hazell and Danielle Garrido 6-3.

BYU remained perfect in singles play on Thursday, but not without some close matches. At No. 1 singles, Jones played UC Irvine's Stephanie Nguyen and after falling in the first set, fought back to win 5-7, 6-2, 10-5.  At No. 2 and No. 3 singles, the two freshmen Abramyan and Madeline Almeida  both had solid wins, respectively. Abramyan beat Chen 6-2, 6-0 and Alemeida took down Garrido convincingly 6-1, 6-1.

Cusick, playing at No. 4, competed in one of the tightest matches of the afternoon against Amiri. Cusick lost the first set 2-6, but came back swinging to win the next two 7-6 (5-0) and 10-7 to get the comeback win. Smith in No. 5 singles beat Tilbury in another thriller, 6-4, 5-7, 13-11 and Malykh at No. 6 singles beat Jacqueline Tsodikova 6-3, 6-3 to keep the Cougars undefeated in singles play this season.

BYU looks to stay hot, traveling to Long Beach, California to compete against Long Beach State Friday, Feb. 9 at 2:00 p.m. PST. No live stream or stats will be available for this match.

RESULTS:

 Doubles competition: 

1. Stephanie Hazell/Danielle Garrido (UCI) def. Mayci Jones/Kate Cusick (BYU) 6-3 

2.  Anastasia Abramyan/Taylah Beckman (BYU) def. Yulin Chen/Flora Amiri (UCI) 6-2

3. Polina Malykh/Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Stephanie Nguyen/Arianna Tilbury (UCI) 6-3 

Singles competition:

1. Mayci Jones (BYU) def. Stephanie Nguyen (UCI) 5-7, 6-2, 10-5

2. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Yulin Chen (UCI) 6-2, 6-0 

3. Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. Danielle Garrido (UCI) 6-1, 6-1

4. Kate Cusick (BYU) def. Flora Amiri (UCI) 2-6, 7-6 (5-0), 10-7 

5. Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Arianna Tilbury (UCI) 6-4, 5-7, 13-11

6. Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Jacqueline Tsodikova (UCI) 6-3, 6-0