PROVO, Utah The undefeated No. 39 Pioneers women’s tennis team edged the No. 56 BYU Cougars 4-3 at the BYU Indoor Tennis Courts. With the win, Denver jumps to a program-best 8-0 on the season while the Cougars fall to 4-6.

 

Denver started the match on a high point, winning two of three doubles matches to clinch the doubles point. Kaja Smole (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Annette Aksdal (Oslo, Norway) picked up the first doubles win for the Pioneers over Elizaveta Ezhova and Chie Hayasaka 8-4 at No. 3. The undefeated No. 46 Dolly Chang and Kristina Doerr knocked off Kyla Iwinski (Marietta, Georgia) and Ute Schnoy (Altenstadt, Germany) 8-6 at No. 2. Mallory Voelker  (Dousman, Wis.) and Julia Bauregger (Klugenfurt, Austria) clinched the important doubles point for the Pioneers with a Bauregger backhand on match-point. The duo defeated No. 37 Anastasia Surkova and Jennifer Miccoli 8-6 at No. 1.

 

Denver carried that momentum into single play, winning the first three matches. Aksdal picked up the first singles point against Chang 6-2, 6-1 at No. 3 and Bauregger followed with a win over Ezhova 6-4, 6-1 at No. 4. Voelker came back from a 5-3 deficit in the first set to defeat Surkova 7-6, 6-3 at No. 1 and clinch the win for the Pioneers. Schnoy was edged in the super tie-breaker 7-6, 3-6, 10-5 by Doerr at No. 2 and Bhavani Tirumurti (Jakarta, Indonesia) fell to Hayasaka in the tie breaking match 2-6, 6-2, 10-4 at No. 5. Iwinski was defeated by Elle Carney 6-4, 6-1 to finalize the score at 4-3.

 

"We created such good energy tonight,” said Aksdal. “It felt like we were playing at home. We usually see some noisy crowds here in Provo but we shut them down. Vamos Pios!"

 

Voelker, Bauregger, and Aksdal remain undefeated in singles at 8-0.

 

Denver continues its road trip Saturday against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. The match is scheduled for noon.