BYU women’s tennis clinches second season sweep, 7-0

PROVO, Utah – The BYU women’s tennis team beat UC Irvine 7-0, claiming its second sweep of the season in its home match on Thursday.

“It was great to have an outside match in Provo today,” Head Coach Holly Parkinson Hasler said. “We needed this before our away match in San Diego on Saturday. It’s always an adjustment to move outside, and I was proud of how hard the girls fought today.”

Polina Malykh extended her No. 3 doubles winning streak to 11 matches after her win against UC Irvine. BYU is now 9-5 on the season with a 2-0 WCC record.

The Cougars took a 1-0 advantage after claiming the doubles point against the Anteaters. At No. 2 doubles, Malykh and Madeline Almeida downed UC Irvine’s Jacqueline Tsodikova and Arianna Tilbury, 6-1. However, the Anteaters responded by taking the No. 3 doubles point over BYU’s Samantha Smith and Taylah Beckman, 3-6.

Coming down to the No. 1 doubles point, the Cougars’ Kate Cusick and Anastasia Abramyan battled for a tight 7-6 (7-5) victory over UC Irvine’s Flora Amiri and Jessica Tsukiji.

BYU then took the next three singles matches in a row to claim the victory. In No. 5 singles, the Cougars’ Smith quickly defeated UC Irvine’s Tilbury 6-0, 6-1. The next victory came in No. 6 singles by freshman Alina Menshykova, taking a 6-1, 6-3 win over the Anteaters’ Tsodikova. To maintain her 11-match win streak, the Cougars’ Malykh clinched the match with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-0 win over Tsukiji in the No. 3 position.

To finish out the match, BYU also took wins in No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles. The Cougars’ Cusick claimed a three-set tiebreaker, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1), against Nguyen. BYU’s Abramyan finished next in a third-set 10 point tie-breaker, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 10-7 against Amiri. Lastly, the Cougars’ Almeida finished in another close match against the Anteaters’ Fossorier 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The Cougars hit the road on Saturday, Mar. 30, at 12 p.m. PDT to compete against No. 37 San Diego at the Hogan Tennis Center.

Doubles

1. Kate Cusick/Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Flora Amiri/Jessica Tsukiji (UCI) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Madeline Almeida/Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Jacqueline Tsodikova/Arianna Tilbury (UCI) 6-1
3. Stephanie Nguyen/Alyssia Fossorier (UCI) def. Taylah Beckman/Samantha Smith (BYU) 6-3

Singles

1. Kate Cusick (BYU) def. Stephanie Nguyen (UCI) 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-1)
2. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) def. Flora Amiri (UCI) 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 10-7 (10 point tie-breaker)
3. Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Jessica Tsukiji (UCI) 6-0, 5-7, 6-0
4. Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. Alyssia Fossorier (UCI) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
5. Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Arianna Tilbury (UCI) 6-0, 6-1
6. Alina Menshykova (BYU) def. Jacqueline Tsodikova (UCI) 6-1, 6-3