Cougars Visit Ranked California Foes
PROVO -- The No. 37 BYU women's tennis team (8-6) will be in California for the weekend as it prepares for dual matches against No. 7 California and No. 16 Fresno State.
The Cougars are coming off a 5-1 upset win of then No. 33-ranked South Carolina to extend their season-high winning streak to four matches. BYU has won six of its last seven matches after opening the dual season with a 2-5 record.
No. 80 Kristina Doerr leads the team with her eight-match win streak. Doerr and Dolly Chang combine for a No. 60 national ranking in doubles, while the veteran duo of Anastasia Surkova and Jennifer Miccoli come in at No. 35. Surkova is also ranked No. 86 in singles.
The Golden Bears hold the edge in the all-time series against BYU, taking victories in seven of the 10 meetings, including the most recent 4-0 win in 2002. The Bears' top six singles players all rank in the top 100 nationally, and are lead by No. 15 Susie Babos. Babos and Stephanie Kusano are ranked No. 45 amongst the nation's doubles teams.
Fresno State is coming off a 5-2 loss to No. 26 William and Mary in its first home match of the season. Singles players Anastasia Petukhova and Melanie Gloria enter Saturday's match ranked No. 12 and No. 13, respectively. The Cougars will face the No. 2-ranked duo of Gloria and Tinesta Rowe as well.
Friday's match between BYU and California is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. PT. The Cougars will be back in action on Saturday when they take on Fresno State at 5 p.m. PT.