Cougars Come Together, Beat Buffaloes 4-3

BOULDER -- Battling through its opponent's home-court advantage, the No. 21 BYU women's tennis team pulled together and pulled through to beat No. 55 Colorado 4-3 at the Millennium Hotel Harvest House Friday night. The win moves the Cougars to 4-0, while the loss was the first of the season for the Buffaloes, placing them at 2-1.

"This is a tough place to play," BYU coach Craig Manning said. "It's really loud and it's difficult to get used to it in one day."

The Harvest House was loud because the Buffaloes brought a huge cheering section with them--the Colorado men's tennis team. The fans did all they could to disturb BYU, but in the end the Cougars were able to shake off the distractions, rally behind one another and come out on top. Manning said matches like this one show why it is important that his team be as united as it is.

"I think the team chemistry pulled the girls through tonight," Manning said. "They had to make a lot of adjustments to play well, and they really showed a lot of heart."

The Cougars showed their togetherness during the final two matches, while trying to protect a 3-2 lead and pull out the win. Rana El Derwy found herself down a set to Colorado's Franziska Jendrian on court six, and Dolly Chang was battling in her third set, having split the first two sets with Martina Sedivec 6-1, 3-6. Manning said at that moment the team really came together, even out-cheering the fans. He said they might have been the loudest in the building.

BYU's cheering worked, and just minutes after El Derwy lost her match 6-0, 7-5, Chang pulled out the third set to beat Sedivec 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 and give the Cougars the 4-3 victory.

Like the final two matches, just getting to the match-clinching point was tough for BYU. Getting out in front early helped them greatly, as they took the doubles point in a sweep--8-7, 8-4, 8-3. Complimenting the great doubles play, Anastasia Sourkova played an excellent match, beating Veera Nurmi 6-2, 6-3 to seal one point for BYU.

"Everyone played good tennis tonight," Manning said. "But Anastasia played incredibly well."

The Cougars will have to pull together once again Saturday night as they travel to Denver for a date with the No. 52 Denver Pioneers. The match begins at 5 p.m.

RESULTS
No. 21 BYU 4 No. 55 Colorado 3
Doubles
1.Jones/Chang (BYU) def. Vanderdys/Milewski (CU) 8-7
2.Sourkova/Miccoli (BYU) def. Nurmi/Losinski (CU) 8-4
3.Boulytcheva/Holden (BYU) def.  Sedivec/Jendrian (CU) 8-3
Singles
1.Olga Boulytcheva (BYU) def. Jessica Vanderdys (CU) 6-3, 6-4
2.Monica Milewski (CU) def. Lauren Jones (BYU) 6-4, 6-0
3.Anastasia Sourkova (BYU) def. Veera Nurmi (CU) 6-2, 6-3
4.Ewa Losinski (CU) def. Sofia Holden (BYU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5)
5.Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Martina Sedivec (CU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
6.Franziska Jendrian (CU) def. Rana El Derwy (BYU) 6-0, 7-5