AIR FORCE ACADEMY -- BYU's No. 39-ranked women's tennis team extended its Mountain West Conference winning streak to three matches, defeating the Air Force Academy 6-1 on Thursday. With the win the Cougars improve to 11-8 overall and 3-0 in conference play.

Bad weather forced the match indoors, which presented it's own problems for BYU.

"It was uncomfortably hot inside," said BYU head coach Craig Manning. "Those were hard conditions to play in. It got to the point where some of the girls were feeling ill, but they dealt with the circumstances as well as they could and got through the match."

With several changes in the lineup, BYU claimed the doubles point after wins on the second and third courts. Jocelyn Jensen and Anastasia Surkova defeated Lauren Wilson and Erika Shortridge 8-2 and were followed by an 8-3 win by Elle Carney and Chie Hayasaka. Dolly Chang and Kristina Doerr dropped a close 8-7(2) match while playing at the BYU's No. 1 position for the first time this season.

Jennifer Miccoli was held out of doubles play, while Surkova was held out of singles. With both seniors requiring some much-needed rest, Manning saw this as an opportunity to give other players more experience.

"It was nice to give [Miccoli and Surkova] some rest and hold them out," he said. "We tried to give the girls playing at the five and six positions some competitive matches."

No. 87 Doerr quickly put the Cougars up 2-0 by defeating Christine Abayan 6-3, 6-4. Back-to-back wins by Hayasaka and Chang at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively, solidified BYU's victory.

With the result of the match already decided, the Cougars continued to dominate, as Elizaveta Ezhova downed Samantha Sarkis in straight sets (6-4, 6-3), followed by Carney's 6-2, 6-3 win over Katrina Eromin. The Cougars only singles loss came at the No. 6 position, when the Falcons' Christen Monreal handed Jensen a 6-2, 6-2 loss. With her win, Monreal claimed AFA's first singles win against BYU since the 2002 season.

The Cougars will resume conference play tomorrow when they take on Colorado State at 12 p.m. MT.

RESULTS
No. 47 BYU 6, Air Force 1
Thursday, April 3, 2008
U.S. Air Force Academy
 
Singles
1. Kristina Doerr (BYU) def. Christine Abayan, 6-3, 6-4
2. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) def. Lauren Wilson, 6-2, 6-4
3. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Meghan Kiser, 6-4, 6-0
4. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) def. Samantha Sarkis, 6-4, 6-3
5. Elle Carney (BYU) def. Katrina Eromin, 6-2, 6-3
6. Christen Monreal (AF) def. Jocelyn Jensen, 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
 
Doubles
1. Abayan/Erlyn Rudico (AFA) def. Doerr/Chang, 8-7(2)
2. Jensen/Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Wilson/Erika Shortridge, 8-2
3. Hayasaka/Carney (BYU) def. Kiser/Sarkis, 8-3
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1

PROVO -- The No. 39 BYU women's tennis team takes its show on the road this week as it travels to meet three Mountain West Conference foes in Air Force, Colorado State and Wyoming. The Cougars hope to improve upon their 2-0 conference record (10-8 overall) in their quest to duplicate last season's undefeated record against conference opponents in regular-season competition.

Air Force is 5-15 overall this season and 0-3 in the Mountain West Conference after suffering losses to #53 New Mexico and #22 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas last weekend. The Falcons have had impressive seasons by several freshmen, including Sarah Cassman and Christen Monreal, who are tied for the team-lead with 18 overall singles wins.

On Wednesday, the Rams of CSU took a break from conference play, falling 7-0 to No. 27 Denver. With the loss the Rams fall to 6-6 on the season and remain 0-2 in MWC play.

The Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team (10-7 overall, 1-2 in the MWC) closed out the weekend with a 5-2 loss against the 22nd-ranked TCU Frogs, on Sunday morning, in Ft. Worth. This weekend will mark the last home matches for Wyoming this season.

BYU will take on Air Force at 10 a.m. on Thursday, with the match against CSU scheduled for 12 p.m. on Friday. The Cougars will conclude the trip with a 10 a.m. match against Wyoming on Saturday.