Anderson-Littlewood, team effort lead No. 57 BYU to third straight win

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Junior Morgan Anderson-Littlewood clinched the victory for No. 57 BYU women’s tennis over Portland in it’s third consecutive 4-3 win in the West Coast Conference, Thursday.

 

"We didn't perform our best today, but it was good enough to pull out a win," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We are looking to perform better tomorrow against Gonzaga."

 

With the match 3-2, junior Littlewood cruised in straight sets over Marina Reimers, 6-3, 6-3.

 

The Cougars (11-7, 7-1 WCC ) began the match by gaining the victory at No. 3 doubles as Nicolette Tran and Savannah Ware served up the 8-2 defeat of Emily Gould and Saroop Dhatt. 

 

BYU then fell at first and second doubles, ceding the first point to the Pilots (5-10, 1-7 WCC). The Cougars are now 3-5 after falling in doubles. 

 

Tran took the momentum from clinching last weekend's final home match into her contest with Sophie van den Aarssen at second singles, cruising to the 6-1, 6-2 win to put BYU on the board. 

 

Portland pulled ahead again as third singles player Meghan Sheehan-Dizon fell in two to Jelena Lazarevic.

 

The Cougars evened the score at 2-2 as freshman Mayci Jones proved tougher than her opponent, ousting Maja Mladenovic for the 7-6, 7-5 win at No. 1 singles.

 

Following Jones' performance, fellow freshman Toby Miclat overcame Tori Troesch for the win at No. 4 singles. The Southern California native took the first set 6-3, suffered a 6-7(7-5) setback in the second before closing out the third, 6-1.

 

The freshman Ware fell at the fifth slot,1-6, 7-5, 6-4, snapping an eight-match winning streak and marking only her fourth dual match loss of the season.

 

BYU will play its final WCC regular season match against Gonzaga Friday at 2 p.m. PDT. Live video streaming of the match will be available on the BYU Athletics website, BYUCougars.com.

 

#57 Brigham Young University 4, Portland 3

 

Singles competition

1. JONES, Mayci (BYU) def. MLADENOVIC, Maja (POR) 7-6, 7-5

2. TRAN, Nicolette (BYU) def. VAN DEN AARSSEN, S. (POR) 6-1, 6-2

3. LAZAREVIC, Jelena (POR) def. SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg. (BYU) 6-2, 6-3

4. MICLAT, Toby (BYU) def. TROESCH, Tori (POR) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1

5. DHATT, Saroop (POR) def. WARE, Savannah (BYU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4

6. ANDERSON, Morgan (BYU) def. REIMERS, Marina (POR) 6-3, 6-3

 

Doubles competition

1. LAZAREVIC, Jelena/VAN DEN AARSSEN, S. (POR) def. JONES, Mayci/MICLAT, Toby (BYU) 8-4

2. MLADENOVIC, Maja/TROESCH, Tori (POR) def. ANDERSON, Morgan/SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg. (BYU) 8-6

3. TRAN, Nicolette/WARE, Savannah (BYU) def. DHATT, Saroop/GOULD, Emily (POR) 8-2

 

Match Notes:

Brigham Young University 11-7, 7-1 WCC; National ranking #57

Portland 5-10, 1-7 WCC

 

Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,6,5)