Cougars Lose Battle Against WSU

PULLMAN, Wash. -- The No. 28 BYU Cougars were defeated 4-3 by the Cougars of Washington State at the Simmelink Tennis Courts at Hollingbery Fieldhouse on Friday. With the loss, BYU falls to 2-3 on the season, while No. 50 WSU extends its winning streak to three matches.

Anastasia Surkova and Dolly Chang were the bright spots for the Cougars, winning their respective singles matches. Playing at the No. 2 position, Surkova defeated WSU's Aleksandra Stefanova in straight sets.

"Surkova and Chang played well today," said BYU head coach Craig Manning. "Also, we fought and played really good doubles. The team's fighting hard and trying to get their game going."

In doubles play, the Cougars came out strong, winning all three matches to secure the point for their team.

WSU came back to tie when Bianca Selaru defeated sophomore Chie Hayasaka, 6-1, 6-2. BYU dropped three additional matches, including a 6-1, 6-1 Kristina Doerr loss to No. 50 Ekaterina Burduli.

"For tomorrow's match we hope to improve upon on confidence level and execute our plays a little better," said Manning.

The Cougars will continue road play against No. 70 Washington at 12 p.m. PT tomorrow.

RESULTS
No. 50 Washington State 4 
No. 28 BYU 3
January 25, 2008
Simmelink Tennis Courts at the Hollingbery Fieldhouse
Pullman, Wash.
 
Doubles:
1. Miccoli/Surkova (BYU) def. Burduli/Kamendova (WSU) 8-2
2. Doerr/Chang (BYU) def. Stefanova/Cekic (WSU) 8-5
3. Hayasaka/Ezhova (BYU) def. Nicolas/Selaru (WSU) 8-6
 
Singles:
1. Ekaterina Burduli (WSU) def. Kristina Doerr (BYU) 6-1, 6-1
2. Anastasia Surkova (BYU) def. Aleksandra Stefanova (WSU) 6-1, 6-4
3. Ekaterina Kamendova (WSU) def. Elizaveta Ezhova (BYU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
4. Bianca Selaru (WSU) def. Chie Hayasaka (BYU) 6-2, 6-1
5. Aleksandra Cekic (WSU) def. Elle Carney (BYU) 6-0, 6-4
6. Dolly Chang (BYU) def. Marina Nicolas (WSU) 6-2, 6-4