BYU women’s tennis defeated the University of Denver Pioneers 4-2 on Saturday at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts, snapping Denver’s five-match winning streak to begin the season.
The Pioneers jumped to an early lead by clinching the doubles point with victories on courts two and three. BYU’s Gracie Levelston and Karina Mohamed earned the Cougars’ lone doubles win, defeating Hana Becirovic Novak and Marley Lambert 6-3 at No. 1.
Denver answered with a narrow win on court two, with Yunfei Cai and Louise Wilkander edging Kendall Kovick and YuYun Chen 7-6. To round out doubles play, Zoe Adkins and Natalie Cinkova defeated Bella Lewis and Sue Yan Tan 6-4, giving the Pioneers a 1-0 lead.
The Cougars took control in singles play, winning four of five matches to clinch the victory. Kovick evened the match at 1-1 with a two-set win over Marley Lambert on court two, 6-4, 7-5. The Pioneers responded on court one, with Wilkander beating Levelston, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
BYU rebounded with three decisive wins in the middle of the lineup. After dropping the first set 3-6, Tan won back-to-back sets, 6-4, 6-0, to beat Adkins at No. 3 singles. Chen followed a similar script on court four, dropping a close first set 5-7 to Cinkova before winning the final two, 7-5, 6-3.
BYU’s Sage Bergeson sealed the match at No. 5 singles, taking down Cai in two sets, 6-2, 6-3. The match at No. 6 singles was left unfinished.
With the victory, BYU improved to 9-1 on the season and 10-9 all-time against the Pioneers. The Cougars will host Weber State and Colorado State in a home doubleheader Saturday.