No. 75 Cougars dominate in win vs. Pilots

PROVO, Utah – BYU women's tennis defeated Portland 7-0 on Saturday afternoon for its third-consecutive victory. The Cougars improved to 10-5 on the season, 6-1 at home and 4-1 in conference play. 

Freshman Tina Li secured her 13th singles victory of the season, improving to 13-2. Li is currently on a nine-match win streak. Sophomore captain Bobo Huang earned her 11th singles victory of the season, improving to 11-3.

Sophomore Jacque Dunyon also came out victorious, improving to 10-2 on the year in singles play. Senior captain Emilee Astle moved to 7-7 on the year with her singles victory. 

“Our girls really took care of business this weekend, and should feel great confidence going into our match versus San Diego next week," said head coach Holly Hasler. "We focus on learning from every match and it’s just fun to see improvements every day."

Doubles

1. Astle/Dunyon (BYU) def. Zelic/Pethybridge 6-3
2. Rouf/Dimitrijevic (POR) def. Huang/Li 6-3
3. Jiao/Wheatley (BYU) def. Pearson/Perez 7-5

      Order of finish: 1, 2, 3

Astle and Dunyon, at no. 1 doubles, jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and never looked back as they defeated Zelic and Pethybridge, 6-3. 

Huang and Li led 2-1 before Rouf and Dimitrijevic tied the match at 3-3 in doubles No. 2. Portland found success as it took three-straight games to defeat Huang and Li, 6-3. 

Jiao and Wheatley, at no. 3 doubles, were tied with Pearson and Perez 1-1 and fell behind 3-2 before retaking the lead at 4-3. The Portland duo was able to tie things up at five sets apiece before the Cougars took the next two games to clinch the doubles point. 

Singles

1. Bobo Huang (BYU) def. Iva Zelic 6-1, 6-1
2. Emilee Astle (BYU) def. Sally Pethybridge 6-2, 6-3
3. Tina Li (BYU) def. Rimona Rouf 6-2, 6-3
4. Jacque Dunyon (BYU) def. Aleks Dimitrijevic 6-3, 6-1
5. Helen Jiao (BYU) def. Meagan Pearson 6-3, 6-3
6. Emmie Moore (BYU) def. Alaia Perez 7-5, 7-5

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

Huang, at no. 1, quickly led 5-1 and went on to secure the first set 6-1. In the second set, Huang jumped out to a 3-1 lead and never looked back defeating Zelic in straight sets.

Dunyon, at no. 4, was tied with Dimitrijevic 2-2 early in the first set but went on to win 6-3. Dunyon quickly led 5-1 in the second set and eventually got the victory in two sets. 

Astle, at no. 2, led 4-2 in the first set before eventually winning 6-2. The two were deadlocked at 3-3 in the second set before Astle pulled away winning the match, and clinching the overall victory for BYU.

Li, at no. 3, took an early 3-1 lead and won the first set 6-2. In the second set, Li and Rouf were knotted at 3 sets apiece before Li won three-straight games to win her match. 

Moore, at no. 6, led 4-1 in the first set before Perez came back and tied things up at 5-5. Moore went on to win two-straight games to win the set 7-5. In the second set, Moore quickly led 2-0 before Perez rallied to tie things up at 3-3. But it was Moore who prevailed in the end winning the match. 

Jiao, at no. 5, jumped out to a 5-3 advantage and went on to win the first set 6-3. A quick 3-1 lead in the set second would give Jiao the momentum to win the match in straight sets. 

The Cougars return to action next week, Friday, Mar. 31 against San Diego. The road match will begin at 12:00 p.m. PDT.