Team effort leads BYU to 4-2 victory over San Diego

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's tennis earned a 4-2 victory over West Coast Conference opponent San Diego Saturday afternoon at the Outdoor Tennis Courts. 

"Great team effort today," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We wanted to bounce back stronger today after a tough loss last weekend and we did just that. Doubles was tight but we dug in and played the important points better than them. We knew they would be tough in singles, so I am happy we were able to play well and pull off the win. Polina (Malykh) and Kate (Cusick) had a great day in both singles and doubles. Mayci (Jones) showed a lot of heart on court today pulling it out in singles and doubles despite being sick."

Sophomores Kate Cusick and Polina Malykh got the Cougars (10-5, 3-1 WCC) off to a hot start in No. 2 doubles. The duo took on San Diego's (8-8, 1-3 WCC) Sophia Chow and Maria-Paula Torres and won the match 6-1. Gemma Garcia and Carolin Nonnenmacher of the Toreros answered back in No. 3 doubles against junior Taylah Beckman and sophomore Samantha Smith, narrowly defeating BYU 6-4.

The doubles point was left up to senior Mayci Jones and freshman Anastasia Abramyan against San Diego's Nicole Anderson and Daniela Morales in No. 1 doubles. Jones and Abramyan came out on top in a close 7-5 win to put BYU up 1-0.

Entering today's match undefeated in regular season singles play, Malykh kept the Cougars rolling into singles as she competed in the No. 4 slot against the Toreros' Colomba DiFilippo . Malykh kept her singles record perfect with a 6-3, 6-3 win, moving to 10-0 on the season. 

Down 2-0, Torres responded with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over freshman Madeline Almeida to put her team within a point. However, Jones competed against Anderson in No. 1 singles and extended BYU's lead. After a victory in the first set, Jones was able to stave off Anderson's comeback to win the match 6-1, 7-5 and put the Cougars up 3-1.

In No. 2 singles, Abramyan kept a close match against Morales, but fell 6-4, 6-3, as San Diego closed within a point once more. The deciding result came down to a tight battle between Cusick and San Deigo's Gemma Garcia in No. 5 singles. Cusick took a close first match, but Garcia roared back in the second to send the match to a third set. Garcia started the final set with a commanding 3-0 lead through the first three games, but Cusick overcame the deficit to win the match 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 and give BYU the 4-2 victory over San Diego. No. 6 singles did not finish.

The Cougars travel to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 4 to take on in-state rival Utah at 3:00 p.m. MT. BYU will then return home Saturday, April 7 to compete against WCC foe Santa Clara at 12:00 p.m. MT. Live stats for the matches can be found on the Cougars online schedule.

Match Results

 BYU 4, San Diego 2

Singles competition

1. Mayci Jones (BYU) def. Nicole Anderson (USD) 6-1, 7-5

2. Daniela Morales (USD) def. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 6-4, 6-3

3. Maria-Paula Torres (USD) def. Madeline Almeida (BYU) 6-2, 6-3

4. Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Colomba DiFilippo (USD) 6-3, 6-3

5. Kate Cusick (BYU) def. Gemma Garcia (USD) 6-4, 2-6, 7-5

6. Hermehr Kaur (BYU) vs. Carolin Nonnenmacher (USD) 3-6, 6-4, 2-2, unfinished

 Doubles competition

1. Mayci Jones/Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Nicole Anderson/Daniela Morales (USD) 7-5

2. Kate Cusick/Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Sophia Chow/Maria-Paula Torres (USD) 6-1

3. Gemma Garcia/Carolin Nonnenmacher (USD) def. Taylah Beckman/Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-4

Match Notes:

San Diego 8-8

BYU 10-5

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (4,3,1,2,5)