ALBUQUERQUE -- The regular season ended with a 4-3 win for the BYU women’s tennis team. The Cougars defeated TCU Saturday to improve to 9-12 on the season and 5-3 in conference play.

Kristina Doerr and Elle Carney easily won the first doubles match of the day, earning an 8-3 win on court two. No. 50 Katariina Tuohimaa and Kayla Duncan upset No. 30 McCall Jones and Megan Price to end the pair’s four-match win streak. The point came down to Liza Ezhova and Chie Hayasaka at the No. 3 position. The Cougar duo won in a tiebreaker to take the advantage going into singles.

TCU quickly tied the score with a 6-1, 6-1 victory on court three. BYU stormed back to win three matches in a row to clinch the needed four points. Ezhova handily defeated Maria Babanova. At the No. 1 spot, Jones completed an undefeated singles season against conference opponents. Price secured the deciding match in straight sets.

The Horned Frogs did not let up and won the last two matches. Both contests went to three sets. Doerr won the first set, lost the second and fell 10-8 in the tiebreak. Hayasaka lost the first set but rallied back to win the second. She eventually dropped the third 6-4 to end the match at 4-3.

BYU will take a week and a half off to prepare for the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The tourney begins Aril 28 at the Fertitta Tennis Complex on the campus of UNLV.

Results
BYU-4
TCU-3
Doubles
1. No. 50 Duncan/Tuohimaa (TCU) def. No. 30 Jones/Price (BYU), 8-6
2. Doerr/Carney (BYU) def. Babanova/Munch-Soegaard (TCU), 8-3
3. Ezhova/Hayasaka (BYU) def. Hertzberg/Sahoo (TCU), 9-8 (4)
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3 
Singles
1. No. 35McCall Jones (BYU) def. No. 52 Nina Munch-Soegaard (TCU), 6-0, 7-6 (5)
2. Katariina Tuohimaa (TCU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU), 7-6 (5), 5-7, 10-8
3. No. 92 Kayla Duncan (TCU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
4. Idunn Hertzberg (TCU) def. Elle Carney (BYU), 6-1, 6-1
5. Megan Price (BYU) def. Shalini Sahoo (TCU), 6-3, 7-6 (4)
6. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) def. Maria Babanova (TCU), 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 4, 6, 1, 5, 2, 3

PROVO -- With only two regular-season matches left, the BYU women’s tennis team heads to New Mexico for the weekend. The Cougars will face UNM Friday and TCU Saturday.

“We’re in the process of finding the right doubles combinations for the conference tournament,” BYU coach Joey Johnson said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how our new pairs perform.”

In its last outing, BYU earned wins over Air Force and Colorado State before falling to Wyoming. Sophomore McCall Jones jumped 17 spots in the rankings this week to land at No. 35. She and Megan Price came in at No. 30 in doubles.

“This is another opportunity for us,” Johnson said. “We have the chance to adjust to playing at a lower altitude, which will help us prepare for the tournament.”

New Mexico has struggled this season after returning only four players from last year’s roster. The Lobos currently have a 1-17 record and are 0-5 in conference play. Last week, the team lost 6-1 to San Diego State and 7-0 to UNLV. The Cougars lead the all-time series with UNM 32-5.

Defending tournament champions TCU will wrap up the season for BYU. The Horned Frogs (6-14, 3-2) have two ranked singles players in No. 52 Nina Munch-Soegaard and No. 92 Kayla Duncan. Duncan also pairs with Katariina Tuohimaa to form the No. 50 doubles team in the nation. TCU is coming off back-to-back 4-3 losses to San Diego State and UNLV.

“TCU will be a good test for us,” Johnson said. “Despite the ups and downs of the season, our players have more confidence and are playing with more intensity than they have before.”

Play against New Mexico begins at 2 p.m. Friday while Saturday’s match against TCU starts at 10 a.m. Both matches will be played at the Lobo Tennis Center in Albuquerque, N.M.