Women’s tennis beats BYU for first time

Utah State University’s women’s tennis team defeated No. 55 Brigham Young University 4-3 in Provo on Wednesday for the first time in program history.

“This was a tremendous team effort,” said USU head coach Sean McInerney.

Freshman Meghan Lyall clinched the match for Utah State by defeating BYU’s Katie Fitt in three sets. The match was the last of the day to finish, and before it started the team score was tied at 3-3.

USU earned the doubles point when senior McKenzie Davis and freshman Maggie O’Meara won 6-1 over Meghan Sheehan-Dixon and Erica Valimaki in the first position. Junior Kallie Sperry and Lyall then combined to beat the No. 1 tandem 6-4 in the Mountain Region, Mayci Jones and Toby Miclat at the third position.

Davis, who is ranked No. 1 in the Mountain Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, beat Jones in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 at the first singles spot. BYU earned a point when sophomore Lexi Turley lost to Meghan Sheehan-Dixon. Sophomore Nini Guensler gave USU a 3-1 advantage when she defeated BYU’s Nicolette Tran in the No. 2 spot.

BYU won the next two matches, but Lyall eventually won and helped Utah State stay undefeated. The Aggies are now 4-0 on the season after handing BYU its first home loss since April of 2013.

“BYU is probably the most talented team we have on our schedule,” McInerney said. “We have come a long way as a program, and this was a huge step forward for us. We expected to win, and we got the job done.”

— olivia.webb@aggiemail.usu.edu