Colorado
Kansas State
Tennis Upsets No. 66 Kansas State, 4-0
January 31, 2015 | Tennis
BOULDER - The University of Colorado women's tennis team faced off against old Big 12 rival No.66 Kansas State winning in commanding fashion, 4-0, Saturday evening at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center.
The win improves the Buffaloes 2015 spring record to 3-0 with wins already against Northern Colorado, 7-0 and the United States Air Force Academy, 5-2. The loss drops Kansas State to 2-2 on the season.
“It's great to get our first win against a nationally ranked team this year,” said Colorado head coach Nicole Kenneally. “We played Kansas State last year and they kind of gave it to us a little bit. So it was really great to have them on our home courts and take the win. And it was great to do that for our home opener.”
Colorado has yet to drop a doubles point this season. And this evening was no different with the Buffaloes taking the doubles point to start off with a 1-0 lead going into the singles matches.
The home Buffaloes took two of three matches as senior Julyette Steur and freshmen Tina Bokhua raised their spring record to 2-1 as they beat Amina St. Hill and Livia Cirnu, 6-1 at the number one doubles spot.
The No. 2 spot was also won by the Buffaloes with senior Ashley Tiefel and junior Alex Aiello defeating Palma Juhasz and Livia Cirnu, 6-1. This win for Tiefel/Aiello was their third of this season improving their spring record to 3-0. The win was Tiefel's 38th individual doubles victory moving her into a tie for 34th all-time with an overall record of 38-36.
Starting the singles matches with a 1-0 lead, the Buffaloes marched onwards to victory by taking the first three singles to finish off the match. Steur started off the winning with a dominating victory in the No. 2 spot against Maria Panaite in straight sets 6-0, 6-0.
The win, along with her doubles victory, improves her all-time record to 97 (52 singles, 45 doubles). Her 52nd singles tally moves her into 29th place all-time.
Colorado's next two points wouldn't come as easily as the first two. Sophomore Nuria Ormeño Ruiz started her match in the No. 3 slot against Iva Bago by dropping the first two games. But she would storm back and take the first set on the way to a 6-4, 6-1 victory. The win was her seventh of the season.
CU's final point would come from budding star freshmen Tina Bokhua, playing in the No. 1 singles spot, working hard to get the win against Palma Juhasz 6-4, 7-6(7-5). Juhasz didn't make it easy for Bokhua trading game-for-game throughout the second set forcing a tiebreaker by winning the final game.
“I didn't really know that I was going to win until the last point,” said Bokhua. “But when I was playing I wasn't thinking about clinching points, I just knew I had to take care of my opponent who was in front of me.” Bokhua would pull away in the tiebreaker and gave the Buffaloes the final match it needed to clinch the fourth and winning point.
Saturday's match was the second of three straight tennis matches for the Buffaloes this weekend. On Sunday, CU travels to in state rival Colorado State. The match starts at 2 p.m.
At Colorado State (Feb. 1)
-CU blanked its in-state rival, 7-0 in Boulder last season, blanking the Rams for the first time since 1997.
-The Buffs clinched the doubles point, then won all six singles positions.
-CU leads Colorado State, 28-0 all-time.
Colorado 4, No. 66 Kansas State 0
CU (3-0), KSU (2-2)
Jan. 31, Millennium Hotel Harvest House
Boulder, Colo.
1d) Julyette Steur/Tina Bokhua (CU) def. Amina St. Hill//Iva Bago (KSU) 6-1
2d) Alexandra Aiello/Ashley Tiefel (CU) def. Palma Juhasz/Livia Cirnu (KSU) 6-1
3d) Kyra Wojcik/Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (CU) vs. Maria Panaite/Riley Nizzi (KSU) 3-3 (40-40)
Order Of Finish: 1,*2
1s) Tina Bokhua (CU) def. Palma Juhasz (KSU) 6-4, 7-6(7-5)
2s) Julyette Steur (CU) def. Maria Panaite (KSU) 6-0, 6-0
3s) Nuria Ormeno Ruiz (CU) def. Iva Bago (KSU) 6-4, 6-1
4s) Livia Cirnu (KSU) vs. Kyra Wojcik (CU) 6-4 did not finish
5s) Amina St. Hill (KSU) vs. Alex Aiello (CU) 6-1, 0-1 did not finish
6s) Vitaliya Alkhovik (CU) vs. Laura Hopton (KSU) DNP
Order Of Finish: 2, 3, *1
Players Mentioned
