April 7, 2013
PULLMAN, Wash. -
The 70th-ranked Cougars battled throughout but couldn't find the winning edge, falling to the 63rd-ranked Utah Utes, 5-2, Sunday morning at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center.
The Cougars fall to 13-10 on the season with a 2-7 record in conference play. Utah improves to 10-7 overall and 4-5 in Pac-12 play.
In doubles play, the Cougars relinquished the doubles point after dropping the first two matches. At No. 1, the No. 21 pairing of Tereza Bekerova and Paige Miles defeated Liudmila Vasilieva and Ksenia Googe, 8-2. Lize Leenknecht fell to Callie Craig and Sarah Pham, 8-3, at No. 2.
With the doubles point already awarded to Utah, the match at No. 2 was shortened to a tiebreaker at 6-6, with the Cougar pairing of Andjela Kankaras coming away with a 7-6 victory over Elena Najera-Salas and Natasha Smith.
In singles action, the Cougars quickly tied up the overall match score after Kankaras defeated Smith 6-2, 6-3, at No. 4. With the win, Kankaras now has 86 career wins and is only one win away from tying Erica Perkins at No. 5 on the all-time singles list. Musilovich provided the other win for the Cougars at No. 5, defeating Lucia Kovarcikova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
After taking the first set at No. 1, Vasilieva could not hold onto the lead, falling 3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to No. 73 Bekerova. Luzina dropped her match at No. 3, falling 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to Craig. At No. 6, Koning fell 7-5, 6-2 to Miles. Googe fell 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 to Pham at No. 2.
The Cougars continue play Monday when they take on BYU.
WASHINGTON STATE TENNIS
No. 63 Utah 5 def. No. 70 Washington State 2
April 7, 2013
George S. Eccles Tennis Center
Doubles
1. No. 21 Bekerova/Miles (UU) def. Vasilieva/Googe (WSU) 8-2
2. Musilovich/Kankaras (WSU) def. Najera-Salas/Smith (UU) 7-6
3. Craig/Pham (UU) def. Leenknecht/Luzina (WSU) 8-3
Order of finish: 1,3,2
Singles
1. No. 73 Tereza Bekerova (UU) def. Liudmila Vasilieva (WSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-1
2. Sarah Pham (UU) def. Ksenia Googe (WSU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
3. Callie Craig (UU) def. Elizaveta Luzina (WSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
4. Andjela Kankaras (WSU) def. Natasha Smith (UU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Olga Musilovich (WSU) def. Lucia Kovarcikova (UU) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
6. Paige Miles (UU) def. Charlotte Koning (WSU) 7-5, 6-2
Order of finish: 4,6,1,2,5,3
