No. 54 Cougars fall 4-3 to Bulldogs in heartbreaker

FRESNO, Calif. - No. 54 BYU women's tennis fell to Fresno State 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon in a heartbreaker. The Cougars fall to 7-4 on the season, 3-3 on the road. 

BYU led the match 3-0 after winning the doubles point and the first two singles matches however, the Bulldogs were able to rattle off four-straight wins giving them the victory. 

Doubles

1. Astle/Dunyon (BYU) UF. Jittakoat/Magrini 5-4
2. Huang/Li (BYU) def. Safi/Vyshkina 6-0
3. Jiao/Wheatley (BYU) def. Piferi/Lopez 6-4

      Order of finish: 2, 3

Huang and Li, at No. 2 doubles, won their first doubles match of the season as a pair. Huang moved to 7-3 in doubles on the year while Li improved to 5-4. 

Jiao and Wheatley, at No. 3 doubles, defeated Piferi and Lopez clinching the doubles point for BYU. 

Astle and Dunyon, at No. 1 doubles, were leading Jittakoat and Magrini 5-4 before the match was left unfinished. 

Singles

1. Pang Jittakoat (Fresno) def. Bobo Huang 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
2. Matilde Magrini (Fresno) def. Emilee Astle 2-6, 7-5, 6-0
3. Christina Flaquer (Fresno) def. Jacque Dunyon 6-2, 0-6, 6-4
4. Tina Li (BYU) def. Carolina Piferi 4-6, 6-0, 6-2 
5. Emmie Moore (BYU) def. Carlotta Nonnis Marzano 6-1, 6-0
6. Mariya Vyshkina (Fresno) def. Kara Wheatley 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 

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

Moore, at No. 5, remains perfect on the year defeating Marzano and improving to 8-0 on the season in singles play. 

Li, at No. 4, fell in the first set but won the next two defeating Piferi for her ninth singles win of the year, improving to 9-2.

Dunyon, at No. 3, was tied 1-1 with Flaquer after two sets but dropped the third set for just her second singles loss of the season (8-2).  

Huang, at No. 1, was defeated for only the third time in singles this year (7-3). 

Astle, at No. 2, won the first set 6-2 but dropped the next two as she dropped to 5-5 in singles play this season.

Wheatley, at No. 6, took the first set, 6-2, but dropped consecutive sets clinching the overall victory for Fresno State. 

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