PULLMAN, Wash. -- The No. 28 BYU Cougars were defeated 4-3 by the Cougars of Washington State at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse on Friday. With the loss, BYU falls to 2-3 on the season, while No. 50 WSU extends its winning streak to three matches.

Anastasia Surkova and Dolly Chang were the bright spots for the Cougars, winning their respective singles matches. Playing at the No. 2 position, Surkova defeated WSU's Aleksandra Stefanova in straight sets.

"Surkova and Chang played well today," said BYU head coach Craig Manning. "Also, we fought and played really good doubles. The team's fighting hard and trying to get their game going."

In doubles play, the Cougars came out strong, winning all three matches to secure the point for their team.

WSU came back to tie when Bianca Selaru defeated sophomore Chie Hayasaka, 6-1, 6-2. BYU dropped three additional matches, including a 6-1, 6-1 Kristina Doerr loss to No. 50 Ekaterina Burduli.

"For tomorrow's match we hope to improve upon on confidence level and execute our plays a little better," said Manning.

The Cougars will continue road play against No. 70 Washington at 12 p.m. PT tomorrow.

RESULTS
No. 50 Washington State 4 
No. 28 BYU 3
January 25, 2008
Simmelink Tennis Courts at the Hollingbery Fieldhouse
Pullman, Wash.
 
Doubles:
1. Miccoli/Surkova (BYU) def. Burduli/Kamendova (WSU) 8-2
2. Doerr/Chang (BYU) def. Stefanova/Cekic (WSU) 8-5
3. Hayasaka/Ezhova (BYU) def. Nicolas/Selaru (WSU) 8-6
 
Singles:
1. Ekaterina Burduli (WSU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Ekaterina Kamendova (WSU) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
4. Bianca Selaru (WSU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Aleksandra Cekic (WSU) def. Elle Carney (BYU) 6-0, 6-4
6. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Marina Nicolas (WSU) 6-2, 6-4

PROVO -- The No. 28 BYU women's tennis team will go on the road to face two ranked foes, No. 50 Washington State and No. 70 Washington this Friday and Saturday, respectively. The Cougars currently have a record of 2-2 on the season and hope to improve upon that this weekend.

BYU is coming off a busy weekend, hosting both Utah State and No. 53 Arkansas. The Cougars began their home play with a 7-0 sweep of the Aggies, but later fell 2-5 to the Lady Razorbacks.

With the BYU Cougars heading up north, they will be taking on another cougar team, the WSU Cougars. WSU had a pair of sweeps against Eastern Washington University and University of Idaho last week and are led by No. 91 ranked singles player Ekaterina Burduli.

Washington will host its season opener against BYU on Saturday. The Huskies began their 2008 season in Honolulu last weekend, losing a tough match to No. 56 Sacramento State, 4-3, before rebounding with a 7-0 sweep of Hawaii. BYU and UW met last year, with the Cougars scoring a 6-1 win.

Friday's match against Washington State is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. PT, with Saturday's match set for 12 p.m. PT.