BYU women's tennis splits doubleheader against Weber State, Fresno State

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s tennis swept Weber State 6-0 in its first match of a doubleheader Friday before falling in a hard-fought battle to Fresno State 4-3.

The Cougars now have a 3-6 record overall this season and have won two of their last three matches.

“Today was a battle. We played as solid as needed against Weber and we knew Fresno would be tough going in.” said head coach Holly Hasler. “We definitely had chances and although it can be rough to go down after fighting so hard, we learned a lot and we will bounce back.”

BYU opened its match against Weber State strong, winning the doubles point. Senior Leah Heimuli and junior Helen Jiao won a close match against Ana Morett and Pei-Hsuan Kuo, 6-4. Senior Anastasia Abramyan and freshman Bobo Huang made easy work of their match, defeating Sicely Ferreira and Megan Davies 6-2. Junior Emilee Astle and sophomore Kara Lin fell in their tight battle against Megan Lombardi and Yuuna Ukita 6-4.

Huang started the Cougars on a high note as she was the first to win her singles match, defeating Ukita 6-3, 6-0. Astle followed with BYU’s third win against Weber State, fighting through two back-and-forth sets, ultimately coming out on top 7-5, 7-5 over Kuo. Freshman Jacque Dunyon fought back from losing her first set against Davies, to sweep her second and win her match 4-6, 6-0, 6-4. Jiao added a fifth point to the Cougar stat line as she cruised through her match against Lombardi 6-3, 6-1. Heimuli finished up the BYU sweep after a thrilling three-set match against Morett. After losing the tiebreaker in set one, Heimuli came back to take the match 6-7, 6-3, 6-1.

After defeating Weber State at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, BYU traveled to the SunPro Club in Springville, Utah to play its match against the Fresno State Bulldogs with little rest in-between matches.

BYU swept the doubles matches against Fresno State, winning the doubles point for the second time that day. Abramyan and Huang took care of business finishing their match with a 6-3 win over Carlotta Nonnis Marzano and Carolina Piferi. Heimuli and Jiao cleaned up their match, earning a 6-2 victory over Dalia Ahmed and Pang Jittakoat. Astle and Lin recorded their first doubles win of the day as they beat Matilde Magrini and A.C. Hummel 6-3.

Huang once again started the BYU singles with a win, defeating Cristina Flaquer 6-4, 6-2, going undefeated on the day. Astle followed next as she handed Hummel her second loss of the day, beating her 6-4, 6-3. Jiao fought hard in her match, forcing a tiebreaker in the second set before falling 4-6, 6-7 to Nonnis Marzano. After climbing back from a loss in the first set, Heimuli pushed her match against Jittakoat into a third before dropping her match 3-6, 6-4, 2-6. Dunyon also pushed through three tight sets before falling 7-5, 6-7, 3-6 to Magrini. With the team points at 3-3, freshman Madison Smith fought hard in her decision-determining match against Piferi went into a third set tie breaker before falling 6-2, 4-6, 6-7.

BYU will host another doubleheader next Friday, Feb. 18 against Denver University at 10 a.m. MST and Nevada at 4 p.m. MST at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts.

BYU vs WEBER STATE:

Doubles:

1. Heimuli/Jiao def. Morett/Kuo: 6-4
2. Abramyan/Huang def. Ferreira/Davies: 6-2
3. Astle/Lin defeated by Lombardi/Ukita: 4-6

Order of finish: 2,3,1

Singles:

1. Heimuli def. Morett: 7-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. Dunyon def. Davies: 4-6, 6-0, 4-6
3. Huang def. Ukita: 6-3, 6-0
4. Astle def. Kuo: 7-5, 7-5
5. Jiao def. Lombardi: 6-3, 6-1
6. Lin vs Ferreira: 6-0 (unf.)

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

BYU vs FRESNO STATE:

Doubles:

1. Heimuli/Jiao def. Jittakoat/Ahmed: 6-2
2. Abramyan/Huang def. Nonnis Marzano/Piferi: 6-3
3. Astle/Lin def. Magrini/Hummel: 6-3

Order of finish: 2,1,3

Singles:

1. Heimuli defeated by Jittakoat: 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
2. Dunyon defeated by Magrini: 7-5, 6-7, 3-6
3. Huang def. Flaquer: 6-4, 6-2
4. Astle def. Hummel: 6-4, 6-3
5. Jiao defeated by Nonnis Marzano: 4-6, 6-7
6. Smith defeated by Piferi: 6-2, 4-6, 6-7