HONOLULU (Jan. 4, 2008) In the opening match of the 2008 campaign BYU's women's tennis team started out strong with a convincing 5-2 victory over Hawaii, Friday.

The No. 26 ranked Cougar team was up 4-0 before the Rainbow Wahine scored a point in the match. BYU went up 1-0 easily winning all three doubles matches then picked up three singles victories to go ahead 4-0.

"This was a fun match and overall it's a good start to the season," said head coach Craig Manning. "We got off to a pretty quick start after adjusting to playing in the low altitude. Some players struggled early but played well at the end."

BYU's Anastasia Surkova teamed up with Kristina Doerr at the no. one doubles position, winning their match, 8-3 over Sophie Kobuch and Chloe Bihag. Teammates Liza Ezhova and Dolly Chang also won at no. 2 doubles in similar fashion. At no. 3 doubles, Elle Carney along with Chie Hayasaka defeated Hawaii's Natasha Zorec and Jennifer Goldman 8-2.

In the singles competition, the Cougars Ezhova, Hayasaka, and Chang picked up straight sets wins at number three, four and six respectively.

Hawaii's two points came late in the match. Kobuch defeated BYU's Anastasia Surkova at no. 1 singles 4-6, 4-6 and Bihag beat the Cougars' Doerr 6-3, 2-6, (10-3).

BYU continues play in Hawaii, battling no. 13 Baylor on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the UH Tennis Complex.

-AGATE-

No. 26 BYU-5, Hawai'i -2

Doubles - BYU won doubles point

1. Surkova/Doerr (BYU) def. Kobuch/Bihag, 8-3

2. Ezhova/Chang (BYU) def. Sandborn/Marie Tanaka, 8-3

3. Carney/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Zorec/Goldman, 8-2

Singles (each match worth one point)

1. Sophie Kobuch (UH) def. No. 59 Anastasia Surkova, 6-4, 6-4

2. Chloe Bihag (UH) def. Kristina Doerr, 6-3, 2-6, (10-3)

3. Liza Ezhova (BYU) def. Julia Sandborn, 6-0, 6-2

4. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Natasha Zorec, 6-1, 6-1

5. Elle Carney (BYU) def. Jennifer Goldman, 7-6 (4), 1-6, (10-4)

6. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Brittany Beswick, 6-1, 6-0

PROVO -- The BYU women's tennis team will ring in the new year and open its spring season by playing dual matches against Hawaii and No. 13 Baylor this weekend in Honolulu.

"It's good to get to Hawaii and play at a lower altitude," said Cougar head coach Craig Manning. "We're going to work on our fundamentals and hopefully get off to a good start. I want to get the girls focusing on those performance cues that I want them to be aware of and get on the right path so we're playing our best tennis as the season progresses."

BYU seniors Anastasia Surkova and Jennifer Miccoli will see action for the first time since the close of the 2007 season. Despite their absences during the fall season, the nationally acclaimed doubles pair is currently ranked No. 8 in the ITA Central Regional Rankings.

Hawaii will host this weekend's matches at the UH Tennis Complex. The Rainbow Wahine's last outing was a mock dual match against No. 2 Stanford. In doubles play, the duo of senior Chloe Bihag and sophomore Sophie Kobuch earned an impressive 9-7 win against Stanford's No. 1 pair.

After a successful fall season, Baylor captured four of the top five spots in the ITA Southwest Regional Rankings. Senior and 2005 NCAA National Champion Zuzana Zemenova earned the highest singles ranking at No. 2 after finishing the fall season with a 6-2 mark.

The Cougars will face Hawaii on Friday at 4 p.m. and Baylor on Saturday at 2 p.m.