Ft. Collins, Colo. (Apr. 27, 2001) -- The No. 1 seeded Cougars defeated the No. 4 seeded New Mexico Lobos, 4-1, on the CSU tennis courts Friday to advance to the championship match on Saturday.

BYU started the match by winning the doubles point with victories in the No. 1 and No. 3 spots. Brooke Ferney and Jodi Richardson defeated Sandy Lukowski and Courtney Choate, 8-4 at No. 1. Lu Oswald and Lindsay Ferrell defeated Nicoleta Spilca and Maria Ruiz-Fabrega, 8-3, at the No. 3 spot.

New Mexico fought hard in singles play (four of the six singles matches lasted almost two hours), but could not overtake BYU. New Mexico's Courtney Choate earned the lone victory for the Lobos, defeating BYU's Brooke Ferney in the No. 4 spot, 6-4, 6-3.

The Cougars are now a perfect 9-0 against conference opponents and 14-8 on the year. BYU will play San Diego State on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. on the CSU Tennis Courts. New Mexico falls to 5-4 in conference play and 15-9 on the year. The Lobos will play for third-place against Colorado State on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. on the CSU Tennis Courts.

Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championships

Second Round -- CSU Tennis Complex, Ft. Collins -- April 27, 2001

BYU 4 UNM 1

Singles

#1 Jodi Richardson def. Natalia Alekhova 1-6, 6-0, 6-4 BYU

#2 Dominique Reynolds vs. Sandy Lukowski DNF

#3 Lu Oswald def. Tjassa Suvak 6-1, 6-0 BYU

#4 Courtney Choate def. Brooke Ferney 6-4, 6-3 UNM

#5 Liza Khoudoiarova vs. Nicoleta Spilca DNF

#6 Lindsey Ferrell def. Maria Ruiz-Fabrega 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 BYU

Doubles

#1 Richardson/Ferney def. Lukowski/Choate 8-4 BYU

#2 Reynolds/Khoudioarova vs. Alekhova/Suvak DNF

#3 Oswald/Ferrell def. Spilca/Ruiz-Fabrega 8-3 BYU