The BYU women’s tennis teams opens its preseason Thursday with its first and only preseason home court match — The BYU invitational.
In last year’s invitational against Utah State and Weber State, the Cougars secured both titles in the singles and doubles tournaments.
Megan Price, who graduated in August, won the singles tournament against her freshman teammate Morgan Anderson, making it the fifth consecutive singles title the Cougars have won at the invitational.
In doubles, BYU beat out Utah State for the title, making it the second year in a row BYU has won the doubles title.
Having lost Price, last year’s captain and only senior, head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer looks forward to seeing her players rise to the challenge.
“All of our girls are very competitive with each other,” Jones-Spencer said. “They’re all very good. It will be fun for me to see where everyone is at and who steps up in placement.”
In this year’s invitational, the Cougars not only rematch last year’s teams, but will also face Boise State and Wyoming. According to Jones-Spencer, this invitational is crucial in setting the tone for this year’s team.
“It’s a good tournament for us to get into the season,” Jones-Spencer said. “It’s our first match of the fall season, so it’s good to get that first match under our belt.”
Aubrey Paul, a senior majoring in exercise science, won the doubles title last year and won the B bracket for singles in a comeback after losing her first match.
“It’s the first one of the fall season for us, so we always want to come out being able to show what we’re capable of doing,” Paul said. “It’s the only home tournament that we have during the fall, so we get the home crowd, and it’s fun to be able to play here on the courts that we practice on. We’d like to come out strong and show that this is our territory.”
Junior Desiree Tran played as Paul’s doubles partner last year and said the teammates all know each other much better this year and are ready to take on more opponents. For her, the invitational is all about representation.
“I would say the most important thing is representing BYU because it is our court, and we should have the advantage,” Tran said.
The invitational starts at 9 a.m. Thursday and will continue through Saturday on BYU’s outdoor tennis courts. Admission is free to all spectators.
