Helen Jiao secures 4-3 home victory against NAU

PROVO, Utah – BYU's Helen Jiao clinched a 4-3 home win for the BYU women's tennis team over Northern Arizona University, Saturday.

“Northern Arizona came out extremely strong in both doubles and singles,” BYU head coach Holly Parkinson Hasler said. “We've been focusing on forgetting about the score and just playing our games, and we did that to fight back today. Overall, it was a great effort from the girls this weekend.”

In doubles play, Emma Jewell and Helen Jiao’s match finished first with a 1-6 loss to NAU’s Chiara Tomasetti and Ellie Millard. The Lumberjacks took the doubles point in the No. 3 match when Polina Malykh and Emilee Astle fell 3-6 to Emilie Haakansson and Elinor Beazley. Despite being down 1-0, BYU's No. 1 doubles duo Leah Heimuli and Kate Cusick Truman won their match 7-6 to extend their doubles team record to 6-1 on the season.

Going into singles play, Cusick Truman fought hard but fell to No. 47 singles player Tomasetti in a tight 2-6, 4-6 loss in No. 1 singles for a 2-0 Lumberjacks advantage. Malykh answered back quickly with a 6-3, 6-3 straight-sets win against Millard in No. 3 singles, bringing the score to 2-1.

BYU tied the match up at 2-2 when Astle took a 7-6, 6-2 victory against Haakansson in No. 4 singles. Almeida Wanlass was the next to finish her No. 6 singles match against NAU’s Madi Moore without giving up a game point 6-0, 6-0, putting the Cougars in the lead 3-2.

After a big comeback in No. 2 singles, Heimuli fell just short in three sets 3-6, 7-6, 4-6 against Sosnowska, tying the score at 3-3. A No. 5 singles win pushed the score in BYU’s favor when Jiao beat Beazley in straight sets 6-4, 7-5 securing the 4-3 win for the Cougars.

BYU remains at home for their next match against the University of Denver Saturday, Feb. 22, 10 a.m. MDT.

Singles

1. No. 47 Chiara Tomasetti (NAU) def. Kate Cusick Truman (BYU) 6-2, 6-4

2. Adrianna Sosnowska (NAU) def. Leah Heimuli (BYU) 3-6, 7-6, 4-6

3. Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Ellie Millard (NAU) 6-3, 6-3

4. Emilee Astle (BYU) def. Emilie Haakansson (NAU) 7-6, 6-2

5. Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Elinor Beazley (NAU) 6-4, 7-5

6. Madeline Almeida (BYU) def. Madi Moore (NAU) 6-0, 6-0

Order of finish: 1, 3, 4, 6, 2, 5

Doubles

1. Kate Cusick Truman/Leah Heimuli (BYU) def. Adrianna Sosnowska/Mimi Bland (NAU) 7-6

2. Chiara Tomasetti/Ellie Millard (NAU) def. Emma Jewell/Helen Jiao 6-1

3. Emilie Haakansson/Elinor Beazley (NAU) def. Polina Malykh/Emilee Astle 6-3

Order of finish: 2, 3, 1