PORTLAND, Ore. – The BYU Cougars held on for a hard-fought 4-2 women's tennis win against the Portland Pilots in the West Coast Conference opener for both schools on Friday at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center.

The Cougars (4-2, 1-0 WCC) gained the first point of the match with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to go ahead 1-0. Portland's tandem of Jelena Lukic and Raphaelle Leblanc was leading 5-3 at No. 1 doubles when the point was clinched.

The top three singles matches went down to the wire on all three courts. Lukic won her opening set against Mayci Jones at the No. 1 position, but Jones gained the momentum by taking the second set and going up 4-1 in the third. Lukic responded by winning the final five games to tie the match at 1-1.

Leblanc and Kate Cusick also went the distance at No. 3 singles. Leblanc took the first set 7-5, but Cusick forced a third set with a tiebreak win in the second. Leblanc led early in the third set, but Cusick held on for a 7-5 win to give BYU a 2-1 lead.

Shortly thereafter, junior Radina Dimitrova posted a comeback win against Anastasia Abramyan at the No. 2 spot. She dropped the first set 6-3, but responded to win 6-4 in both the second and the third to tie the team score at 2-2.

BYU was able to control the bottom of the lineup and pull out the match with straight set wins at No. 5 and No. 6 by Samantha Smith and Taylah Beckman, respectively. Pilot freshman Lourdes Ramalle was up a set at No. 4 when the Cougars clinched.

The Pilots (1-5, 0-1) will return to the court on Sunday morning to host San Jose State at 8:30 a.m. at the Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center. Live video and scoring of that match will be available at PortlandPilots.com.

BYU 4, Portland 2
Portland, Ore. (Louisiana Pacific Tennis Center)
February 23, 2018

Singles
1. Jelena Lukic (POR) def. Mayci Jones (BYU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
2. Radina Dimitrova (POR) def. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
3. Kate Cusick (BYU) def. Raphaelle Leblanc (POR) 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5
4. Polina Malykh (BYU) vs. Lourdes Ramalle (POR) 6-7 (4), 5-0, unfinished
5. Samantha Smith (BYU) def. Nina Nikitovic (POR) 6-3, 6-2
6. Taylah Beckman (BYU) def. Emily Soares (POR) 7-5, 6-1

Doubles
1. Jones/Abramyan (BYU) vs. Lukic/Leblanc (POR) 3-5 unfinished
2. Cusick/Malykh (BYU) def. Ramalle/Anna Oberg (POR) 6-4
3. Beckman/Smith (BYU) def. Dimitrova/Nikitovic (POR) 6-3

Match Notes
Portland 1-5, 0-1 WCC
BYU 4-2, 1-0 WCC
Order of Finish: Singles (1,3,2,5,6), Doubles (2,3)