Klempner Helps in Victory Over No. 58 Boise State

PROVO -- The 66th ranked BYU women's tennis team got back on a winning track Friday against No. 58 Boise State by edging the Broncos 4-3. The victory for the Cougars marks only the third loss for BSU this season and the first victory for BYU in their last seven attempts.

"I'm so proud of the girls today," said BYU head coach Craig Manning. "We've been playing tough all year but we just haven't been getting the wins like we would like. We've had so many 4-3 losses, it's nice to finally be on the winning side of that score."

The match got off to a start with BYU claiming the doubles point by winning two of the three doubles matches. BYU seniors Dominique Reynolds and Liza Klempner teamed up at the No. 1 spot to beat Jemima Hayward and Erin Polowski 8-5. Rebecca Pike and Olga Boulytcheva were the other Cougar tandem to win, defeating Carolina Pongratz and Anna Curtolo 9-7 in a hard-fought match at No. 3.

"Doubles was the key for us today," said Manning. "We wouldn't have won this match if it weren't for our winning the doubles point. We played fantastic doubles today."

In singles, the Broncos came back strong and gave the Cougars a run. But BYU held on to steal the match from BSU. Klempner, after losing the first set 2-6, was able to fight back and win the next two sets 6-3, 6-4 to beat Renate Stoop at No. 1 singles. Stoop is currently ranked 66th among all collegiate tennis players.

"Liza played great for us today," said Manning. "She got down but was able to fight back and come up with a big win over a very good player. She really came up with a big win for us today."

The match was knotted at 3-3 and came down to the match at the No. 6 spot. But Macfarlane won a hard-fought three-set match over Pongratz, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

"We have been playing ranked teams all year," said Manning. "It's nice to get a win over such a good team. I wanted to get a win today so that the girls could see that all their hard work is paying off."

The Cougars have little time to rest as they will be back in action tomorrow (Saturday, March 22) against No. 38 South Carolina in Provo at noon.

No. 66 BYU def. No. 58 Boise State
Doubles
1. Reynolds/ Klempner (BYU) def. Hayward/Polowski (BSU)		8-5
2. Stoop/Ayling (BSU) def. MacFarlane/Schneider (BYU) 		 8-2
3. Pike/Boulytcheva (BYU) def. Pongrontz/Curtolo (BSU)		 9-7
Singles
1. Liza Klempner (BYU) def. Renate Stoop (BSU)			        2-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Jemima Hayward (BSU) def. Dominique Reynolds (BYU)		  6-4, 6-1
3. Erin Polowski (BSU) def. Olga Boulytcheva (BYU)			    6-4, 6-1
4. Rebecca Pike (BYU) def. Alissa Ayling (BSU)			        6-2, 3-6, 6-2
5. Anna Curtolo (BSU) def. Tarah Porter (BYU)			         6-0, 3-6, 6-3
6. Hadley MacFarlane (BYU) def. Carolina Pongratz (BSU)		7-5, 5-7, 6-3