BYU women’s tennis fell to San Diego 6-1 on Friday at the Aztec Tennis Center.
The loss marked Cougars’ first defeat after opening the season with a road doubleheader sweep at Utah Tech.
The Toreros clinched the doubles point with 6-2 wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. BYU’s lone doubles win came at No. 1 doubles, where Gracie Levelston and Kendall Kovick defeated San Diego’s Vilma Krebs Hyllested and Kristina Nordikyan, 4-3. The doubles point gave San Diego momentum heading into singles play.
During singles competition, the Toreros won at No. 2-6. BYU’s Gracie Levelston won at No. 1 singles in a super tiebreaker, 1-0 (10-3), after splitting the first two sets. The win prevented the shutout and accounted for the Cougars’ only point of the match.
At No. 2 singles, San Diego’s Hannah Read, ranked No. 53 nationally, defeated Kendall Kovick in two sets, 7-5, 6-4. The Toreros won at Nos. 3 and 5 singles in similar fashion, with Vilma Krebs Hyllested defeating Sue Yan Tan and Maria Shmakova defeating Sage Bergeson in straight sets.
After dropping the first set 4-6, San Diego’s Gabby Gregg won the next two sets at No. 4 singles to defeat BYU’s YuYun Chen, 6-0, 6-1. Rounding out singles play, Kristina Nordikyan claimed No. 6 singles in three sets, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
Both teams move to 2-1 on the season. The Cougars will face Cal Poly Saturday afternoon at the Aztec Tennis Center.