Home Opener for Women's Tennis

PROVO -- After three consecutive road matches against top-25 teams, the No. 67 BYU women’s tennis squad will face No. 75 Wichita State in the first home contest of the year Thursday.

“The team has played some strong tennis against tough opponents so far,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “This will be a good test for us to show what we can do.”

The Cougars spent last weekend at the ITA Indoor Qualifying Tournament hosted by the University of Florida. The team dropped its first match to No. 8 Florida before falling to No. 22 SMU in the consolation round. BYU has previously enjoyed success when playing at home and the team has a 43-10 home record over the last five seasons.

“It’s my first home match and I’m excited,” Johnson said. “I’m hoping that the energy from the crowd will motivate the players to do their best.”

Last week, the Shockers fell to 1-2 on the season after 4-3 losses to both No. 56 Nebraska and No. 64 Minnesota. In singles, WSU’s Lutifiana Budiharto comes in at the No. 28 spot in the national rankings. The sophomore defeated BYU’s McCall Jones at the ITA All-American Championship during the fall and notched the only victory in last year’s 6-1loss to the Cougars. While she has participated in doubles, Budiharto has yet to play a singles match in the spring due to injury.

First serve is set for 2 p.m. Thursday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts located south of the Smith Fieldhouse. Admission to the event is free and all BYU “Y Lot” parking lots are open to the public after 4 p.m.