Nabieva, Ware-Avina lead Cougars in sweep over Broncos

Box Score

PROVO, Utah – Seniors Natella Nabieva and Savannah Ware-Avina led BYU women's tennis to a 4-0 victory over Boise State Saturday afternoon at the BYU indoor tennis courts. 

"The girls had energy today and we played smart tennis," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "We've been working in practice on focusing on our game and not our opponent's and I thought the girls all did a great job. Today showed us how well we can play when we're focused on the right things." 

The Cougars (2-2, 0-0 WCC) dominated in doubles, winning on on courts two and three to score the first point of the match. On court two, Ware-Avina and freshman Samantha Smith teamed up at second doubles to shut out the Broncos' Hanna Kantenwein and Wiktoria Nosek for a 6-0 victory. Playing at the No. 3 doubles slot, Nabieva and freshman Polina Malykh clinched the doubles point for the Cougars with a 6-2 win over Nancy Menjivar and Jovana Kuljanin of Boise State (5-2, 0-0 MWC). 

Heading into singles play with a 1-0 advantage, BYU made quick work of Boise State. Ware-Avina was the first off the courts following a 6-1, 6-1 victory at second singles over Boise State's Lilian Poling, preserving her perfect singles record in dual matches during the 2017 campaign. Smith finished next with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over the Bronco's Kuljanin at the No. 4 singles spot. Nabieva clinched the match for the Cougars on court one with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Boise State's Kantenwein.

BYU will travel to Honolulu for two road matches next week. The Cougars will face Hawaii on Thursday, Feb. 23, at 3:30 HST before taking on Long Beach State on Friday, Feb. 24, at noon HST. 

BYU 4, Boise State 0

Singles Competition

1. Natella Nabieva (BYU) def. Kantenwein,Hanna (BSU) 6-3, 6-4

2. Savannah Ware-Avina (BYU) def. Poling,Lilian (BSU) 6-1, 6-1

3. Polina Malykh (BYU) vs. Dokic,Anja (BSU) 5-7, 2-4, unfinished

4. Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Kuljanin,Jovana (BSU) 6-3, 6-0

5. Kate Cusick (BYU) vs. Menjivar,Nancy (BSU) 2-2, unfinished

6. Taylah Beckman (BYU) vs. Venter,Kirsty (BSU) 1-0, unfinished

Doubles Competition

1. Kate Cusick/Taylah Beckman (BYU) vs. Dokic,Anja/Poling,Lilian (BSU) 4-4, unfinished

2. Savannah Ware-Avina/Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Kantenwein,Hanna/Nosek,Wiktoria (BSU) 6-0

3. Natella Nabieva/Polina Malykh (BYU) def. Menjivar,Nancy/Kuljanin,Jovana (BSU) 6-3

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