BYU notebook: Tennis team serving up wins

PROVO — The BYU women's tennis team won three matches last weekend against conference foes, which extends their winning streak to five.

The Cougars (13-8) struggled early on in the season but have won nine of their last 11 matches as they continue to grow as a team.

"We tried to plan it that way; we preach all year about peaking at the right time of year," said head coach Craig Manning. "We lost some close matches early on, and we felt like we had a chance in those; we just couldn't get over the hump. But we have been playing really well lately, and I hope we can just continue to build on that."

Some of their early woes could be contributed to a youthful squad, but Manning feels that his young team is starting to rise to the occasion week in and week out.

"We have a young squad that is figuring it out," he said. "It has been a long road, but they just have not quit and they are starting to come together. I think we are in a good spot right now."

The Cougars are now a perfect 5-0 in conference play but will be tested in their three remaining matches against TCU, New Mexico and Utah before the Mountain West Conference tournament.

This weekend they will face New Mexico and TCU in Albuquerque.

"TCU is a tough team and is also 5-0 in conference, so it will be a really big match for us," said Manning. "Hopefully, the girls are fresh and ready to go."

TRACK AND FIELD: The BYU track and field team was spread out throughout the U.S. while competing in three different meets this past weekend. At home they hosted the BYU Cougar invitational where Leif Arrhenius and Bryce Bergen both set regional qualifying marks in the discus and high jump respectively. Sophomore Kevin Biesinger had a personal best in the 400-meter dash, running it in 47.40 seconds, just .20 seconds from a regional qualifying mark.

Madara Dzalbe won the triple jump going 39 feet 9.75 inches, Mindy Robbins finished first among collegiate runners in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.15 seconds and Chelsi Petersen came in first among collegiate jumpers with a jump of 19 feet 6 inches.

Three men's pole vaulters set regional qualifying marks at the Texas Relays, and several other regional marks in distance events were set at the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.