The BYU women’s tennis team upended Nevada 5–2 Friday morning in a long, tight match.
The Cougars (3–0) and Wolfpack (0–1) battled back and forth throughout the match. Even with the 9:00 a.m. start time both teams came out strong; however, the Cougars were able to pick up some key points throughout the match to swing the score to 5–2.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” BYU head coach Lauren Jones-Spencer said. “Nevada fought for every point.”
This win marks the first time in seven years the Cougars have started off a season 3–0.
It looked like it might be a long day for Nevada after the Cougars opened up the match with two quick doubles victories and consequently the doubles point. However, after Nevada picked up a win in the third doubles match, they picked up the play and gave BYU everything it could handle in singles play.
In a match that lasted over two hours Cougar junior Desiree Tran outlasted Emma Verberne 7–6, 4–6, 6–2 to pick up a crucial fourth point and secure the win for BYU.
“The key was just to play my game,” Tran said. “The second set I played her game more and she took advantage of the points. As soon as I won the first game of the third set though, I felt confident that I could win the set.”
Nevada’s No. 1 Michelle Okhremchuk and BYU’s No. 1 sophomore Morgan Anderson battled back-and-forth in another three-set match. Anderson took the first set 6–4, before Nevada’s top netter fought back for a 6–4 victory in the second set. Anderson fell behind early and Okhremchuck took advantage of her slow play to grab a 5–2 lead in the third set. Anderson came back with two straight wins to bring it to 4–5, but was unable to hang on in the next game and Okhremchuk took home the win and gave Nevada an important point, but in the end it wasn’t enough for the Wolfpack.
“We played well,” Jones-Spencer said. “Unfortunately, throughout some of the games we let up on the gas pedal. We didn’t play our games and they took advantage of that. In the end though we closed out the match which was the most important thing.”
BYU will be back at home next week against Boise State at noon on Saturday, Feb. 16.
