Women get first league win of the year

PROVO, Utah—Seniors Meghan Sheehan-Dizon and Morgan Anderson-Littlewood led No. 65 BYU women’s tennis to a 5-2 win over Portland Friday in Provo with dominating straight-set wins.

“We did a great job in doubles today being aggressive and playing with confidence,” BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “We were able to carry that over to our singles matches. I am really proud of the way the girls stepped up today.”

The Cougars (4-4, 1-0 West Coast Conference) seized control of the match early when they captured the doubles point to take a 1-0 lead. Sophomores Mayci Jones and Toby Miclat were quick off the court at No. 1 doubles beating Portland’s Sophie van den Aarssen and Maja Mladenovic 6-3. Sheehan-Dizon and Anderson-Littlewood clinched the doubles point after a victory over Amanda Zuidema and Emily Gould 6-3.

BYU carried the momentum into singles play but fell at No. 1 and 2 singles. Jones fell first to the No. 70 singles player, Lucia Butkovska 6-0, 6-2. The Cougars regained the lead when Sheehan-Dizon outplayed Saroop Dhatt to a 6-4, 6-2 victory. The Pilots (4-2, 0-1) bounced back at No. 2 singles to tie the match at two. Mladenovic beat Nicolette Tran 6-3, 7-5.

Despite the tie, BYU would go on to win the final three matches to seal the win. Savannah Ware kept her singles unbeaten streak alive and pulled out a three-set thriller over van den Aarssen 7-5, 3-6, 6-4. Toby Miclat and Anderson-Littlewood both won convincingly in straight sets against Tori Troesch (6-1, 6-4) and Amanda Zuidema (6-0, 6-2), respectively.

The Cougar women return to action next Sat. Feb. 28, when they host former MWC foe New Mexico at 10 a.m., at the indoor tennis courts.