Both BYU teams advanced on the opening day of the men's and women's MWC tennis championships held in Utah and Colorado.
The No. 1-seeded women had no difficulty defeating No. 8-seeded Wyoming 5-0 in Fort Collins at the CSU tennis courts.
In Salt Lake City, the BYU men didn't have as easy of a time in their match as the victory came down to the No. 4 singles position before the Cougars pulled out the 4-3 win over in-state rival Utah at the Snowbird Canyon Racquet Club.
The 31st-ranked Cougar women captured the doubles point and won four of the six singles matches to ensure the BYU victory. Jodi Richardson, ranked 39th, was perfect for the Cougars in her 6-0, 6-0 victory over Wyoming's No. 1 player, Jenny Bowman. BYU's Dominique Reynolds, Lu Oswald and Lindsey Ferrell all won their singles matches in straight sets.
The win improved BYU's record to 13-8 overall. The Cougars were to face fourth-seeded New Mexico Friday morning.
In Salt Lake City, the men won the doubles point with two of the three wins for the 1-0 advantage heading into the singles competition. The No. 1 BYU duo of Gert Vilms and Carlos Lozano defeated Utah's David Mercier and Nicholas Yip 8-6 while Cougar teammates Eric Nyman and Matt Stohl clinched the doubles point with an 8-5 win over the Utes Kevin Zenger and Corrie Scheepers. The Cougars advanced to the next round to meet No. 1 seed SDSU Friday afternoon.
UTAH WOMEN: Fourth-seeded New Mexico narrowly avoided an upset over fifth-seeded Utah during the first round Thursday.
After a strong showing in doubles play, the Lobos relied on the result of No. 3 singles player Tjasa Suvak against Utah's Linn Ronnberg. Suvak won the match after three sets, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
The Lobos captured the doubles point and won matches at the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Utah was victorious at No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 positions. Each match was a sweep for the respective team until the deciding No. 3 match.
New Mexico improves to a 15-8 overall record, 5-3 in the MWC. The Lobos face top-seeded BYU in the second round Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the CSU Tennis Courts. Utah drops to 6-13 overall, 3-5 in the MWC and will take on eighth-seeded Wyoming Friday at 10:00 on the Edora Tennis Courts. BYU blanked Wyoming, 5-0, in the first round of championship play.