PROVO, Utah -- Despite being downed in doubles, BYU women’s tennis stunned San Francisco 4-3 on freshman Savannah Ware’s match-clinching win at sixth singles on Saturday.

 

In their West Coast Conference opener, the Cougars improved to 4-4 on the season while the Dons fell to 8-4 (0-2 WCC). In all four losses this season, BYU also lost the doubles point.

 

“It feels really good to pull out a win today, especially after losing the doubles point,” BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “Everyone stepped up and it means a lot. It’s a really important confidence-builder going forward.”

 

Ware took the first set 6-4 before a 6-0 setback in the second against Brooke Irish. The Southern California native found herself in a 2-5 hole in the third before coming back in dramatic fashion, taking it 7-5 while clinching the match for the Cougars. Ware’s win was the second time in three chances this season she has clinched a win for BYU.

 

With the match at 3-2 in favor of San Francisco, freshman Toby Miclat knotted the score with her victory over Milica Hadzi-Tanovic, 6-4, 7-5, setting up Ware's match-clinching win.

 

Following doubles, freshman Mayci Jones fell to Andrea Ka 6-3, 6-4, but Nicolette Tran put the Cougars on the board as she edged Sofia Holmberg in two close sets, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5.

 

Junior Meghan Sheehan-Dizon evened the score at two apiece, securing the victory over Thyra Taune, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Senior Desiree Tran fell to her opponent, 7-5, 7-6 (7-5). 

 

The Cougars will be back on the road next weekend as they face No. 50 Yale Friday at 1:30 p.m. MDT and No. 40 Arizona State Saturday at noon.

 

 

Tennis Match Results

San Francisco vs Brigham Young University

Mar 04, 2014 at Provo

(Outdoor Tennis Courts)

Brigham Young University 4, San Francisco 3

 

Singles competition

1. KA, Andrea (SF) def. JONES, Mayci (BYU) 6-3, 6-4

2. SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg. (BYU) def. TAUNE, Thyra (SF) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2

3. TRAN, Nicolette (BYU) def. HOLMBERG, Sofia (SF) 7-6 (9-7), 7-5

4. NIKOLIC, Marina (SF) def. TRAN, Desiree (BYU) 7-5, 7-6 (7-5)

5. MICLAT, Toby (BYU) def. HADZI-TANOVIC, Mili. (SF) 6-4, 7-5

6. WARE, Savannah (BYU) def. IRISH, Brooke (SF) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5

 

Doubles competition

1. TAUNE, Thyra/HOLMBERG, Sofia (SF) def. JONES, Mayci/TRAN, Nicolette (BYU) 8-7 (7-5)

2. KA, Andrea/NIKOLIC, Marina (SF) def. SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg./MICLAT, Toby (BYU) 8-6

3. HADZI-TANOVIC, Mili./IRISH, Brooke (SF) def. ANDERSON, Morgan/MADDOX, Mackenna (BYU) 8-4

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (1,3,2,4,5,6)

PROVO, Utah -- Coming off a rainy trip to Southern California, BYU women’s tennis looks to resume playing this week when it faces Nevada Thursday at noon MST and San Francisco Saturday at noon in its West Coast Conference opener, both at the Indoor Tennis Courts.

 

“It was hard to travel last week and not get to play,” BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “I think the girls are really excited to compete at home again and get into conference matches.”

 

The Cougars (2-4) were rained out last weekend in matches against No. 57 UC Irvine and No. 55 Long Beach State, but look to even their record with contests against the Wolfpack (5-3) and the Dons (7-3). 

 

“A lot of our matches this year have shown that doubles point is key for bringing the energy,” Jones-Spencer said. “We’ve been working on being positive in practice and having good energy. Hopefully we can transition it and show it in our matches.”

 

BYU has taken the doubles point in both wins this season while losing the doubles in all four losses.

 

The Cougars are 4-0 all-time against Nevada and 3-1 against San Francisco. Since joining the WCC in 2011, it has a 1-1 record in conference openers. Before this week’s ITA rankings, the conference had five teams ranked in the top 75, including the Cougars.

 

Live scoring for the match Thursday will be available on the BYU athletics website. The match Saturday will also have live scoring on the athletics website. 

 

Next weekend, BYU will head out to Tempe, Ariz., to face two top 50 opponents in Yale and Arizona State, March 14 and 15, respectively.