Cougars sweep Utes 4-0 in rivalry showdown

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's tennis defeated Utah 4-0 on Saturday afternoon for its fourth consecutive victory. The Cougars improved to 7-3 on the season, 4-1 at home. 

“Today was huge for BYU tennis! Utah is a very talented team with great competitors, but our team effort and energy was insurmountable," said BYU head coach Holly Hasler. "Every player believed and played with courage whether on or off the court. This should bring huge confidence going into a tough week of matches in California ”

Sophomore Bobo Huang secured her seventh singles victory of the season, improving to 7-2. Senior Emilee Astle recorded her fifth singles victory of the season, improving to 5-4. The Cougars swept the doubles matches.

Doubles

1. Astle/Dunyon (BYU) def. Tattini/Goncharova 6-4
2. Huang/Moore (BYU) def. Townsend/Horwood 6-3
3. Jiao/Wheatley (BYU) UF. Barksdale/Lopez 5-4

      Order of finish: 2, 1

Huang and Moore, at no. 2 doubles, trailed 3-1 but later won five-straight games defeating Townsend and Horwood. 

Astle and Dunyon, at no. 1 doubles, fell down 2-1 to Tattini and Goncharova but tied the set at 4-4 and won two-straight games winning the match and clinching the doubles point for the Cougars. 

Jiao and Wheatley, at no. 3 doubles, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, and were leading before the match went unfinished. 

Singles

1. Bobo Huang (BYU) def. Katya Townsend 6-1, 7-5
2. Emilee Astle (BYU) def. Kaila Barksdale 6-3, 6-3
3. Jacque Dunyon (BYU) UF. Madison Tattini 3-6, 6-4, 4-4
4. Tina Li (BYU) def. Marcela Lopez 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3). 
5. Emmie Moore (BYU) UF. Anastasia Goncharova 4-3
6. Helen Jiao (BYU) UF. Samantha Horwood 4-1

      Order of finish: 2, 1, 4

Astle, at no. 2, fell down 2-0 in the first set but went on to win four-straight games and led 4-2 before eventually winning 6-3. It was all Astle in the second set as she won 6-3. 

Huang, at no. 1, jumped out to an early 2-0 lead and never lost control winning the first set 6-1. Huang and Townsend were tied at 2-2 in the second set and then later were tied again at 4-4. Huang trailed 40-love before climbing all the way back and hitting a winner to take a 5-4 lead. Huang maintained control and won the set 7-5, to secure the match.

Li, at no. 4, trailed 2-0 early and fell in the first set 6-3. In the second set, Li jumped out to a 3-0 lead and eventually won 6-1. In the third set, Li led 5-4 before Lopez evened the score at 5-5. After trading victories, the two were tied at 6-6 before heading to a third-set tiebreaker. In a tense tiebreaker, Li came out on top 7-3, clinching the overall match for BYU. 

Dunyon, at no. 3, took a 2-1 lead but eventually lost the first set 6-3. Tattini and Dunyon were tied at 2-2 in the second set and later were tied at 4-4 before Dunyon won two-straight games, winning the set 6-4. Tattini and Dunyon were tied at 4-4 in the third set before the match ended. 

Jiao, at no. 6, and Moore, at no. 5, matches' went unfinished. 

The Cougars return to action next week, Friday, Mar. 17 against Harvard in San Luis Obispo, Calif.. First serve is set for 2:30 p.m. PDT.