by Kyle Cottam: USU Athletic Media Relations

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State women's tennis opened its 2019 home slate with a 4-3 victory over Southern Utah at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club on Sunday afternoon.

"Anytime you can come out in a Division 1 match and play a Division 1 opponents without your top two players (Alexandra Pisareva and Hannah Jones) and find a way to win, I was very proud of the team," said head coach Sean McInerney. "We made it tight and close, but I love being in those situations this time of the year. We have two freshmen (Sidnee Lavatai and Annaliese County) out there at five and six, and it came down to them and know they had to win and they got the job done. It turned out to be fantastic."

The Aggies began the match by capturing the doubles point as the duo of junior Lucy Octave and freshman Annaliese County posted a 6-3 victory over Southern Utah's Hsuan Yu Lin and Jana Weiss, 6-3. The tandem of freshman Gabrielle Dekkers and freshman Sidnee Lavatai then dispatched SUU's Zoe Tanti and Jessica Stefan, 6-3, to secure the doubles point. Utah State's sophomore Alexandra Taylor and junior Rhoda Tanui were leading 4-3 in their match at No. 1 doubles over Southern Utah's Daniela Cozzi and Chloe Purkiss, but the match was left unfinished.

Utah State extended its lead 2-0 with a straight-set victory at No. 4 singles as Octave only dropped a single game in each set against Southern Utah's Lin for the 6-1, 6-1 victory.

The Thunderbirds battled back to take a 3-2 lead after victories at the top of the lineup. Tanti began the push after posting a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Dekkers at No. 3 singles. Cozzi followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Tanui at No. 2 singles. The match at No. 1 singles went to a third set as Taylor came back after a 3-6 loss in the first, with a 6-2 win in the second. Southern Utah's Weiss came out ahead with a 7-5 victory in the third.

Lavatai evened the match at No. 6 singles with a straight-set victory over Southern Utah's Charity Sagiao, 6-3, 6-2.

The contest came down to court No. 5 where County and Stefan played into the third set as each player captured the first and second set by matching 6-1 scores. County ultimately came out on top with a 6-4 victory in the third set to secure the win for the Aggies.

"We came together as a team," said freshman Annaliese County. "We're missing a couple of our players, but we pulled it out in doubles, which was good. When it came down to who needed to win, we all were able to pull it out. Everybody played amazing today and I couldn't be prouder of my team today. It was a really good day." 

Utah State will be back in action on Friday, Feb. 1, hosting Akron at the Sports Academy & Racquet Club at 11 a.m.

RESULTS
Utah State 4, Southern Utah 3
Doubles
1. Alexandra Taylor/Rhoda Tanui (USU) vs. COZZI, Daniela/PURKISS, Chloe (SUU) 4-3, unfinished 
2. Lucy Octave/Annaliese County (USU) def. LIN, Hsuan Yu/WEISS, Jana (SUU) 6-3 
3. Gabrielle Dekkers/Sidnee Lavatai (USU) def. TANTI, Zoe/STEFAN, Jessica (SUU) 6-3

Singles
1. Jana Weiss (SUU) def. Alexandra Taylor (USU) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 
2. Daniela Cozzi (SUU) def. Rhoda Tanui (USU) 6-3, 6-2 
3. Zoe Tanti (SUU) def. Gabrielle Dekkers (USU) 6-0, 6-4 
4. Lucy Octave (USU) def. Hsuan Yu Lin (SUU) 6-1, 6-1 
5. Annaliese County (USU) def. Jessica Stefan (SUU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 
6. Sidnee Lavatai (USU) def. Charity Sagiao (SUU) 6-3, 6-2

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