USU’s streak ends in Boise
Utah State women’s tennis had their three-match winning streak snapped Friday in a 7-0 loss to Boise State.
Friday’s match against the Broncos was the first of two matches on the weekend for the Aggies, the other taking place Saturday against Portland State, both of which were held in Boise, Idaho.
The Aggies opened up Friday’s match against Boise State with narrow defeats in two of the three doubles pairings. Utah State’s Brianna Harris and Bridgette Strickland fell 8-6 to Boise State’s Polina Kokoulina and Jana Mackova in No. 1 doubles, while the Aggies’ Taylor Perry and Jennifer Johnson lost 8-5 to Stacey Housley and Jen Wencel in No. 3 doubles.
The Broncos went on to sweep the Aggies in singles play, winning all six pairings in straight sets to give the Broncos the 7-0 match victory.
Saturday’s match against the Portland State Vikings began with the Aggies getting swept in doubles play for the second straight day. Utah State’s No. 1 doubles team of Harris and Strickland lost by a final of 8-2 to Portland State’s Molly Knox and Lacey Pflibsen. Both the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles pairings resulted in the same final of an 8-2 win for Portland State.
The Aggies logged their only two victories of the weekend in Saturday’s No. 1 and No. 2 singles pairings. Utah State’s Harris claimed victory when Portland State’s Pflibsen retired after Harris won the first set 6-4. In No. 2 singles the Aggies’ Hailey Swenson won 7-5, 2-6, 10-2 over the Vikings’ Stephanie Fuchs. Utah State’s Marie Livingston dropped her first set 2-6 in No. 5 singles before battling back to a 6-3 win in the second set against Alyssa Ferry of Portland State. Ferry held on to win the match by claiming the third set by a final of 10-4.
The Vikings won in straight sets in No. 3, No. 4, and No. 6 singles en route to a team victory of 5-2 over Utah State, dropping the Aggies’ record on the season to 6-11. The Utah State women take the court again Tuesday in Ogden against Weber State for what will be their third meeting with the Wildcats this season, with each team having logged one victory in the series.
– matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu