COLORADO SPRINGS -- The BYU women's tennis team added another MWC victory to their record on Friday by beating the Cowgirls of Wyoming 6-1. The win improves the Cougars' overall record to10-10 and conference record to 4-2.
The Cougars started the match on the right foot by winning the doubles point. Seniors Dominique Reynolds and Liza Klempner teamed up at No. 1 and beat Patricia Chien and Gwen Moser 8-2. At No. 2, Hadley MacFarlane and Nicole Schneider beat Jen Hancock and Yuliani Santi 9-8 (6). Olga Boulytcheva and Rebecca Pike completed the BYU sweep in doubles by beating Kati Gyulai and Megan Williams 8-6 at the No. 3 spot.
In singles, BYU head coach Craig Manning changed the lineup a bit to let freshman Hanni Wittenbecker get some match play experience. Wittenbecker won her second singles match of the season by beating Moser at the No. 6 position. Boulytcheva was the only Cougar to lose in singles. She got beat by Santi at the No. 2 spot in a tough match that ended 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
BYU will be back in action tomorrow as they conclude the regular season against Colorado State.
No. 45 BYU def. Wyoming, 6-1Singles
1. Dominque Reynolds (BYU) def. Patricia Chien (UW) 4-6, 7-5 (10-8)
2. Yuliani Santi (UW) def. Olga Bulycheva (BYU) 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2)
3. Rebecca Pike (BYU) def. Kati Gyulai (UW) 7-5, 6-1
4. Hadley Macfarlane (BYU) def. Jen Hancock (UW) 6-0, 6-0
5. Nicole Schneider (BYU) def. Megan Williams (UW) 6-1, 6-1
6. Hanni Wittenbecher (BYU) def. Gwen Moser (UW) 6-2, 6-3
Doubles
1. Reynolds/Klempner (BYU) def. Chien/Moser (UW) 8-2
2. Macfarlane/Schneider (BYU) def. Hancock/Santi (UW) 9-8 (6)
3. Pike/Bulycheva (BYU) def. Gyulai/Williams (UW) 8-6
PROVO -- The No. 45 BYU women's tennis team (8-10) will be closing out the regular season this weekend as they face two MWC opponents in Fort Collins, Colo. The Cougars will face Wyoming on Friday and Colorado State on Saturday.
BYU is currently fourth in the conference with a 3-2 record. The Cougars have had big wins over Utah, Air Force and No. 22 UNLV. They will be looking to improve their conference record this weekend by sweeping the Cowgirls and the Rams.
"This weekend is really big for us," said BYU head coach Craig Manning. "We want to get a good seed for the conference tournament and winning these two matches would really help us accomplish that."
The Cowgirls of Wyoming come into this weekend with a 0-4 conference record. They have lost their last seven matches and will be looking to turn things around against the Cougars on Friday.
"You always have to be ready for Wyoming," said Manning. "They don't hit the ball very hard but they are usually very consistent. We'll need to be very patient with them."
The Rams of CSU have one conference win and are an even 6-6 on the season. They are two spots behind BYU in the conference standings and will try to improve on that this weekend.
"Colorado State is a lot better than what their record shows," said Manning. "We played them last fall in the BYU Invitational and they were tough. This weekend is going to be a good test for our team."
After this weekend's action, BYU will have a week off to prepare for the MWC tournament, which will be held in San Diego on April 24 through the 26.
