No. 57 BYU Edges Pilots, 4-3

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland women's tennis team led early and had chances late before dropping a 4-3 decision to the No. 57-ranked BYU Cougars Thursday in West Coast Conference action at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. BYU improves to 11-7 overall and 7-1 in league, while the Pilots drop to 5-10 overall, 1-7 in conference play.

"We have really believed in this young team's potential and today we proved some things to ourselves," Portland head coach Susie Campbell-Gross said. "Today we showed that we can play at a very high level, against one of the elite teams that we have faced this season." 

Sophomores Maja Mladenovic and Tori Troesch handed Morgan Anderson and Megan Sheehan-Dizon their first loss of the season at the No. 2 position. The duo came in 9-0 overall, but the Pilots held on for an 8-6 win to even the doubles score.

It came down to the No. 1 position for the doubles point, where Portland's Sophie van den Aarssen and Jelena Lazarevic won by an 8-4 margin over Toby Miclat and Mayci Jones to give the Pilots a 1-0 lead. Van den Aarssen and Lazarevic improved to 9-4 overall and 5-1 in league play.

Singles action opened with BYU evening the score as Nicolette Tran won in straight sets over van den Aarssen at the No. 2 spot. Lazarevic then cruised past Sheehan-Dizon at the No. 3 position by a 6-2, 6-3 margin.

Jones squeaked out a close win over Mladenovic 7-6, 7-5 to even the score at 2-2.

Troesch forced a third set at the No. 4 position against Miclat, but BYU would again take the point and go up 3-2. Anderson wrapped up the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win for the Cougars at the No. 6 position over Marina Reimers.

The day concluded with Pilot sophomore Saroop Dhatt coming from behind for a three-set victory over Savannah Ware at No. 5 singles.

"We will keep searching for the consistency that is sometimes tough to find with a young team," Campbell-Gross added. "I think we have a chance to finish on a high note this season and the future looks bright. We'll be adding some very talented players to the mix next year and the experience gained this season, in matches like today's, is going to pay off big time."

Portland will take a day off before concluding the regular season by hosting the San Diego Toreros on Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center. It will be Senior Day for Piot seniors Emily Mahairas and Gabrielle Gorence.

#57 BYU 4, Portland 3
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana-Pacific Tennis Center)
April 17, 2014

Singles
1. JONES, Mayci (BYU) def. MLADENOVIC, Maja (POR) 7-6, 7-5
2. TRAN, Nicolette (BYU) def. VAN DEN AARSSEN, S. (POR) 6-1, 6-2
3. LAZAREVIC, Jelena (POR) def. SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg. (BYU) 6-2, 6-3
4. MICLAT, Toby (BYU) def. TROESCH, Tori (POR) 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-1
5. DHATT, Saroop (POR) def. WARE, Savannah (BYU) 1-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. ANDERSON, Morgan (BYU) def. REIMERS, Marina (POR) 6-3, 6-3

Doubles
1. LAZAREVIC, Jelena/VAN DEN AARSSEN, S. (POR) def. JONES, Mayci/MICLAT, Toby (BYU) 8-4
2. MLADENOVIC, Maja/TROESCH, Tori (POR) def. ANDERSON, Morgan/SHEEHAN-DIZON, Meg. (BYU) 8-6
3. TRAN, Nicolette/WARE, Savannah (BYU) def. DHATT, Saroop/GOULD, Emily (POR) 8-2

Match Notes:
Brigham Young 11-7, 7-1 WCC; National ranking #57
Portland 5-10, 1-7 WCC
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (2,3,1,4,6,5)