Despite heavy weather, Cougars defeat Pacific

Box Score 

Provo, UTAH – After Friday's match against Saint Mary's was rained out, BYU women's tennis defeated Pacific 4-1 on Saturday at the Eve Zimmerman Tennis Center in Stockton, California. 

"It was a tough weekend due to the weather, but the girls did a great job adjusting and stepped up against two good teams," BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. "Natella had a great weekend of singles and played tough tennis and I'm happy to see her get some big wins for the team." 

Due to inclement weather, doubles competition was suspended and the contest between BYU (7-9, 2-2 West Coast Conference) and Pacific (5-11, 0-6 WCC) was limited to just singles play. 

With the Cougars commanding a 3-1 lead, senior Natella Nabieva clinched the match in a three-set thriller by the score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 at second singles against the Tigers' Anna Ramos Vinolas

Freshman Kate Cusick scored the match's first point for the Cougars with a 6-2, 6-4 win at third singles over Anneroos Nederstigit of Pacific. The Tigers' Saenz Deburuaga Ruiz evened the count with a victory over BYU's Samantha Smith, winning 6-1, 7-5 on court No. 4. 

Sophomore Taylah Beckman next defeated Pacific's Sabrina Rodriguez at fifth singles with a 6-4, 6-3 win to give BYU the 2-1 lead. Senior Savannah Ware-Avina won her match at first singles with a 7-6 (8-4), 6-2 win before Nabieva clinched at the No. 2 spot. 

BYU returns home to host Pepperdine on Friday, April 14 at noon MDT. Admission is free to the public and free pizza will be served.