On Jan. 18, the women’s tennis team took on BYU for their first duel match of the spring season. WSU lost 2-5 to the Cougars at the Ogden Athletic Club.

BYU started off by winning two doubles matches and taking the advantage point over Weber. The ‘Cats won two of the following four singles matches, thanks to Freshman Megan Lombardi and Senior Caitlin Herb.

Lombardi played in her first collegiate tennis match as the number six single after just arriving from South Africa this semester.

“It was really exciting,” Lombardi said. “I’m from South Africa and we don’t have this level of intensity and competitiveness.”

In the three set match, Lombardi won the first two sets, giving Weber State their first team score.

Also a South African native, Herb won her match 2–1. Herb’s win added a second point to the overall team score.

Herb started the match by losing the first set 6–0, putting herself in a win or bust scenario for the next two sets.

Herb fought back in the second set with an impressive 6–1 victory forcing a decisive set three, where she came out victorious in a close 6–4 final set.

“I just stuck with it and kept cool,” Herb said. “I won in the third set so it was exciting.”

BYU capped off the day winning the last two singles, ending the duel match 2-5.

“I’m very happy with the way the ladies played today,” head coach Mark Roberts said. “It was an excellent close match with a very strong BYU team. It just slipped away from us at the end. It was a great performance by the whole team and a great start to our spring season.”

Weber State saw some improvement. For the last two seasons, BYU has swept the Wildcats 7–0.

Weber State falls to 0-1 on the season and heads to a doubleheader with Lewis-Clark State and Boise State University on Jan. 25 in Boise. The ‘Cats return to Ogden to play Akron on Jan. 31 for their next home match.