|
|
|
BYU Defeats UNLV To Win The MWC Women's Tennis Championship
No. 1 seed BYU defeated No. 3 seed UNLV, 4-2.
April 30, 2005 Photo Gallery | Complete Tournament Photo Gallery SAN DIEGO, CALIF. - No. 1 seed BYU defeated No. 3 seed UNLV, 4-2, to win the Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship, Saturday afternoon at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, Calif. It was the No. 23-ranked Cougars' second consecutive MWC tournament championship and fifth appearance in the final overall in the six seasons of the MWC. In doubles play, BYU came out with wins at No. 1 and 2 doubles to earn the point. At No. 1 doubles, the Cougar team of Anastasia Sourkova and Jennifer Miccoli rattled off a 5-0 lead, then a 6-1 advantage, over UNLV's Elena Gantcheva and Sharon Marin, but the Lady Rebel team fought back to take a 7-6, and then an 8-7 lead. With the score knotted at eight, the Cougar team prevailed in a tiebreaker. Dolly Chang and Lauren Jones also won at No. 2 doubles for BYU. UNLV won the first two singles matches to give the Lady Rebels a 2-1 advantage. Cindy Treber defeated Dolly Chang at No. 5 singles, 6-0, 6-2, and No. 28-ranked Elena Gantcheva defeated No. 112-ranked Lauren Jones at No. 1, 6-2, 6-4. BYU bounced back with two straight wins to give the Cougars a 3-2 advantage as Rebecca Pike defeated Claire Smith at No. 6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, and Sofia Holden defeated UNLV's Sharon Marin at No. 4 singles, 7-6, 6-2. With two matches left, BYU needed just one point for the title. The Cougars clinched the team title at No. 2 singles as Olga Boulytcheva defeated Gyorgyi Zsiros, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Boulytcheva held a 5-2 lead in the final set but Zsiros broke serve to make it 5-3. After Zsiros held serve, Boulytcheva closed it out. With the victory, BYU earns the MWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship that begins May 13. The Cougars improve to 21-3 overall, while UNLV drops to 14-8 on the season. It was also BYU's seventh consecutive win overall. In the consolation final, No. 6 seed Colorado State defeated No. 5 seed Utah, 4-1. Utah won the doubles point with wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles but the Rams came out strong in singles play. Carla Pallares, Jessica Jones and Alexandra Paganetti all got quick victories at No. 4, 5 and 6 singles. Anne Andersen then earned the winning point for the Rams with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Utah's Whitney Eber at No. 3 singles. 2005 Mountain West Conference Women's Tennis Championship Final - No. 1 seed BYU def. No. 3 seed UNLV, 4-2 Singles Doubles
Consolation Final - No. 6 seed Colorado State def. No. 5 seed Utah, 4-1 Singles Doubles
|
|
