Netters fall to No. 38 Long Beach State in season debut

LONG BEACH, Calif. – In its first match of the season, the BYU women’s tennis team fell to No. 38 Long Beach State, 6-1, on the 49ers’ home court Friday.

“We played a good team,” BYU coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “The girls fought really hard. We started off slow and tried to work off nerves. We’re a lot better prepared for our match tomorrow after playing this one.”

The one bright spot of the day for BYU (0-1) came on Court 2 when senior Megan Price took down No. 117 Laura Bernard in a three-set thriller, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Junior Aubrey Paul battled at the No. 5 position for the Cougars but was unable to top Sarah Cantlay, falling 7-6, 6-3.

BYU dropped its other four matches in straight sets to finish with the 6-1 loss.

The Cougars struggled in doubles play, losing close contests. Freshman Morgan Anderson and sophomore Desiree Tran lost a tough match on Court 2 to Cantlay and Julie Luzar, falling 9-8.

Price and freshman Meghan Sheehan-Dizon fell to Anais Dallara and Karolina Rozenberg, 8-5. The No. 1 Cougar duo was 3-2 during fall play.

The BYU netters continue play in California Saturday against UC Irvine at 1 p.m. PST.

Long Beach State: 6

BYU: 1

Singles competition:

1. Anais Dallara def. Desiree Tran 6-1, 6-4
2. Megan Price def. No. 117 Laura Bernard 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
3. Julie Luzar def. Morgan Anderson 6-2, 6-3
4. Klaudia Malenovska def. Meghan Sheehan-Dizon, 6-4, 6-3
5. Sarah Cantlay def. Aubrey Paul 7-6, 6-3
6. Anna Jeczmionka def. Lisa Waldron 6-0, 6-0
 

Doubles competition:

1. A. Dallara and K. Rozenberg def. M. Price/M. Sheehan-Dizon, 8-5
2. S. Cantlay/J. Luzar def. M. Anderson/D. Tran, 9-8
3. L. Bernard/K. Rozenberg def. A. Paul/L. Waldron, 8-0 

Match Notes:

BYU (0-1)
Long Beach State (2-0); National ranking No. 38
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (6,3,1,4,5,2)