Toward the beginning of the women’s BYU Tennis Invitational last week, any moment of silence was broken by shouts of “Go Cougars,” “Go Weber” or “Go U-State” from players, coaches and fans. But as the days went on, only Cougar shouts could be heard as players from the women’s tennis team claimed the singles and doubles title for the third year in a row.
Just as in the men’s tournament the weekend before, BYU dominated early on, having an all-blue semifinal in singles. Senior Megan Price took home the championship by defeating freshman Morgan Anderson in a three-set battle. Through most of the first set, the teammates exchanged games, with both players winning their service games. Price won a crucial break point tying the match 4-4 and then went on to win the next two games to close out the set.
[/media-credit]- Megan Price returns a volley Friday morning at the Women’s BYU Tennis Invitational.
For most of the second set, the same events played out with each player punishing their teammate with their serves. Toward the middle of the set, Anderson had two unforced overhead errors in a row; one smashing into the net, while the other went wide to the left side of the court. The freshman was able to regain composure and win the second set in a tiebreaker, 7-6.
In the end, seniority held true and Price won the set with a quick 6-3 victory. Upon winning the match, Price only had good things to say about Anderson, as well as the rest of the team.
“She plays really well,” Price said. “I really, really like our team. We have a good group of girls [all of which are] willing to work hard, that are willing to put in an effort. We get along really well.”
The doubles tournament also had four Cougars competing in the semifinal round, but only two of them advanced to the finals.
In the semifinal match on Friday night, Desiree Tran and Aubrey Paul defeated teammates Price and Anderson 8-2. Though the numbers seem as though Tran and Paul defeated their teammates with ease, Tran thought otherwise.
“Going in against Morgan and Megan, Aubrey and I played pretty well,” Tran said. “I felt that was our best game of all. But going into the finals we kind of slowed down a little because it wasn’t as intense. Playing against teammates, you’re trying to play your best as well as trying to be friendly, but it’s still really competitive.”
In the championship match, Tran and Paul beat Utah State’s Kristina Voytsekhovich and Jaci West 8-5.
The Cougars are represented by a majority of underclassman with three freshmen, two sophomores, two juniors and one senior. Even though the team is young, the coaches have high hopes and expectations for upcoming events.
“Right now we can shape the girls into the players they can become,” said assistant coach James Ludlow. “But right now they are strong as they are. They all have solid games.”
In two weeks the team will head to Berkley, Calif., for the California Invitational, where the players will be facing some of the top teams in the country.
