Jan. 17, 2004

PROVO, Utah -Utah State's women's tennis team opened its season with a loss to BYU 7-0 here Friday.

BYU, which came into the meet ranked 45th nationally, was able to take advantage of the Aggies youth as BYU swept the Aggies for the second straight year. "We are young," said head coach Chris Wright. "We are a good team, but I think that some of the women were intimidated going in."

In number one singles, Lindsey Bennion was unable to gain any momentum against the 43rd- ranked player in the nation, Barbara Zahnova, losing 6-1, 6-0. Andrea Hanson came the closest to winning a set for the Aggies as she pushed Nicole Schneider in the second set before falling 7-5.

"I liked our effort," said Wright. "BYU is a very good team and I think this was a very good learning experience for us."

USU's next match will be Feb.1 when it hosts its first home meet against Gonzaga at 10 a.m.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTSSINGLESBarbora Zahnova (BYU) def. Lindsey Bennion (USU)       6-1, 6-0Sofia Holden (BYU) def. Jill Smith (USU)        6-1, 6-0Lauren Jones (BYU) def. Richelle Ferguson (USU)   6-1, 6-2Lu Oswald (BYU) def. Carolyn Stephens (USU)       6-2, 6-1Rebecca Pike (BYU) def. Courtney Anderson (USU)      6-1, 6-3Nicole Schneider (BYU) def. Andrea Hansen (USU)      6-0, 7-5
DoublesMacFarlane/Zahnova (BYU) def. Bennion/Stephens (USU)  8-4Holden/Schneider (BYU) def. Hansen/Ferguson (USU)    8-0Oswald/Pike (BYU) vs. Smith/Monson (USU)    DNF(6-1)

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