By Celeste Wilcox
The No. 48 BYU women”s tennis team lost two close matches on the road this weekend, falling to No. 61 Kansas State and No. 44 Kansas.
Kansas State pulled off a 4-3 win Friday Jan. 24, sealing the victory in the last match of the day. Senior Petra Sedlmajerova came back from a set down to beat BYU”s Lu Oswald at No. 2 singles 6-7 (2), 6-2, 6-3.
BYU dominated the bottom half of singles positions with sophomores Rebecca Pike and Nicole Schneider and freshman Hadley Macfarlane winning their matches, but that was not enough to overcome the Wildcats.
KSU took the top three singles matches and two of three doubles matches. The BYU duo of Macfarlane and Schneider was the only pair to pull out a win in doubles play.
“With it being the first match of the year, we were a little nervous and started out slow in doubles,” BYU coach Craig Manning said in a press release. “But we came back and played them tough; I was pleased with how everyone played.”
The University of Kansas Jayhawks also just squeaked by the Cougars, winning on Saturday Jan. 25, 4-3.
Once again, the Cougars struggled in the top rankings of singles play. Schneider and Macfarlane were the lone wins at the No. 5 and 6 spots.
BYU won all three doubles matches to claim the doubles point. Dominique Reynolds and Lu Oswald, the usual No. 1 doubles team, was split up Saturday in a decision Manning said benefited the team.
“We played very well in doubles today,” Manning said in a press release. “I changed the line-up a bit before this weekend and I think that helped to balance things out a little.”
The Cougars” first home match is Friday Jan. 31, when they take on the Utah State Aggies in Provo at 1 p.m.
