Tennis team to finish off season with two top 15 opponents

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    By LANCE BANDLEY

    The BYU women’s tennis will close out the regular season this weekend against seventh-ranked William & Mary and 15th-ranked Notre Dame.

    BYU is coming off a 7-2 WAC win Tuesday over the University of Utah. Against the Utes, BYU swept all six singles matches for the first time this season. BYU also won five of its six single matches in straight sets.

    Head coach Clark Barton said the win against the Utes put the Cougars where they need to be at the end of the season.

    “Right now we are playing the kind of tennis that I expected from the team,” he said. “We had a rough start this season, but everybody is starting to play to their potential.”

    Another good sign for the Cougars was the play of Gee Gee Garvin and Kim Kelly. Both players are coming off injuries, but played solid tennis against the Utes. Both players also posted wins in the single matches and Kelly picked up a win in the doubles with teamate Jodi Richardson.

    BYU will have to play its best tennis of the season this weekend in order to compete against top-15 teams Notre Dame and William & Mary.

    “It will be good for us to play against teams of this caliber at the end of the season,” Barton said. “It will help us improve for the WAC tournament.”

    William & Mary (16-5) is coming off an 5-1 upset loss to the hands of ninth-ranked Texas. However, the team does boast a dual match victory over second-ranked Duke earlier this season.

    The Cougars will also have their hands full against 15th-ranked Notre Dame. The Irish (16-6) are coming off four wins in six days. Leading the way for the Irish is senior All-American Jennifer Hall who is ranked 62nd in the nation. Hall also just set a Notre Dame record for victories at the school with over 195 combined single and double match victories. The doubles team of Hall and sophomore Michelle Dasso is ranked eighth in the nation for the Irish.

    BYU (5-12, 3-3) will face Notre Dame Friday and William & Mary Saturday. Both matches will take place in South Bend, Ind.

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