BYU defeats Washington State 5-2 in Home Opener

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's tennis defeated Washington State 5-2 in its home opener Saturday. The Cougars swept the doubles matches, propelling them to their second win of the season. 

Doubles

1. Astle/Huang (BYU) def. Murphy/Alvarez 6-2
2. Li/Moore (BYU) def. Kumhom/Nakagawa 6-0
3. Dunyon/Wheatley (BYU) def. Mikhailova/Tse 6-3

      Order of finish: 2, 1, 3

Li and Moore, at no. 2 doubles, got off to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back. The duo won in straight sets. 

Astle and Huang, at no. 1 doubles, split the first two games before winning four straight to take a 5-1 lead. After dropping the seventh game, the tandem defeated Murphy and Alvarez 6-2 to secure the doubles point for BYU.

Dunyon and Wheatley, at no. 3 doubles, led early 2-1, and took home a 6-3 win to complete the sweep of the doubles round. 

Singles

1. Bobo Huang (BYU) def. Maxine Murphy 7-5, 6-1
2. Eva Alvarez (WSU) def. Emilee Astle 2-6, 7-6, 6-3
3. Jacque Dunyon (BYU) def. Yura Nakagawa 7-5, 1-6, 6-3
4. Tina Li (BYU) def. Elyse Tse 6-4, 6-3
5. Kara Wheatley(BYU) def. Dylan Lolofie 6-2, 6-0
6. Emmie Moore (BYU) def. Hania Abouelsaad 6-0, 6-3

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

Li, at no. 4, quickly led 2-0 over Tse and won the first set 6-4. Li never lost the lead in the second set, defeating Tse 6-3 and winning the match, securing the Cougars' first singles point win. 

Huang, at no. 1, quickly fell down 0-2 to Murphy but fought back as the first set went back and forth and was eventually tied at 5-5. Huang went on to win two-straight games to win the set 7-5. A between-the-legs backward shot from Huang helped give her a 3-1 advantage in the second set as the crowd broke out in applause. Huang eventually took the set 6-1 to win the match. 

Dunyon, at no. 3, trailed 1-2 early but came back defeating Nakagawa 6-4 in the first set. With the match tied at 6-6 in set two, Dunyon hit a winner to take the set 7-6 (8-6), clinching the overall match win for BYU.

Astle, at no. 2, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over Alvarez, winning the first set 6-2. In the second set, Astle led early 3-1, but Alvarez fought back tying the set at 6-6. Alvarez took set two 7-6. The third and final set was won by Alvarez 6-3, to defeat Astle. 

Moore, at no. 6, quickly won the first set 6-0, before going on to win the second 6-2, to win her match. 

Wheatley, at no. 5, lost the first set 7-6, but rebounded in the second winning 6-3, and fell in a third set tiebreaker 10-8. 

The Cougars return to action next week on Friday, Feb. 10, and Saturday, Feb. 11 against LMU and Utah State. The home matches will begin at 12:00 p.m. MST.