Women's Tennis Falls to No. 43 Rebels

SAN DIEGO -- A hard 6-1 loss to No. 43 UNLV Saturday pushed the BYU women’s tennis team’s conference record to 4-3 going into the last week of regular season play.

“Today we had our opportunities,” said BYU interim head coach Lauren Jones Spencer. “We were up 5-2 in doubles in the deciding match and we lost confidence. UNLV is a good team. We just need to fight every point and not give up.”

Elle Carney had a successful day, despite her team’s loss. The senior teamed up with Aubrey Paul of Sandy, Utah to record the Cougars’ only doubles win of the match—an 8-1 victory against Jana Albers and Adrienn Hidvegi at the No. 3 position.

Megan Price and Callie Craig fell 8-3 to Aleksandra Josifoska and Nives Pavlovic. The Court 2 doubles match decided the doubles point, with Rebels Lucia Batta and Anna Maskaljun taking the narrow victory over Elizaveta Ezhova and Desiree Tran (8-6).

Carney’s success continued with the only singles win for BYU (9-10, 4-3). She defeated Pavlovic in straight sets at position No. 3 (7-5, 6-3).

Freshman Craig of Orem, Utah lost to No. 123 Batta 6-1, 6-4 and Price fell 6-2, 6-3 to Josifoska. Wins on Courts 4, 5 and 6 gave the Rebels (18-4, 7-0) their six points.

Friday, the Cougars face their last conference opponent No. 55 Utah in Provo at noon.

BYU vs. No. 43 UNLV

BYU-1 UNLV-6

Doubles

1. Pavlovic/Josifoska (UNLV) def. Price/Craig (BYU), 8-3

2. Batta/Maskaljun (UNLV) Ezhova/Tran (BYU), 8-6

3. Paul/Carney (BYU) def. Albers/Hidvegi (UNLV), 8-1

Singles

1. No. 123 Lucia Batta (UNLV) def. Callie Craig (BYU), 6-1, 6-4

2. Aleksandra Josifoska (UNLV) def. Megan Price (BYU), 6-2, 6-3

3. Elle Carney (BYU) def. Nives Pavlovic (UNLV), 7-5, 6-3

4. Adrienn Hidvegi (UNLV) def. Desiree Tran (BYU), 7-6, 6-0

5. Jana Albers (UNLV) def. Liza Ezhova (BYU), 6-3, 7-5

6. Anna Maskaljun (UNLV) def. Aubrey Paul (BYU), 6-2, 6-2