Colorado
Oregon
Tennis Falls 4-3 to No. 60 Oregon
March 22, 2015 | Tennis
BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's tennis team almost pulled off a come-from-behind victory, however fell by the slimmest of margins, dropping a 4-3 home loss to No. 60 Oregon, Sunday afternoon at the South Campus Courts.
The win improves the No. 60 ranked Ducks record to 8-5 overall and 2-1 in the Pac-12 Conference, while the Buffaloes dropped their sixth straight, all in conference play. Overall, the No. 56 ranked CU squad drops to 9-8.
All six of CU's Pac-12 losses have been to nationally ranked opponents (No. 7, No. 10, No. 24, No. 46, No. 50, No. 60).
“Overall, we competed well in singles; we had some bright moments,” said CU head coach Nicole Kenneally. “Having Julyette (Steur) back on the court, she was spot on; Nuria (Ormeño Ruiz) coming back from a set down; and Ashley (Tiefel) was solid at No. 6, taking care of business; and Kyra (Wojcik) played a great match, she had her opportunities."
CU still leads the all-time series against Oregon, holding a 10-8 edge, however trails in conference play 3-1. The Buffs defeated the Ducks during the 2013 season, 5-2 in Boulder.
In the doubles session, Oregon took the No. 1 and No. 2 matches by 8-2 and 8-6 scores, respectively. The home team earned a win at No. 3 as sophomore Vitaliya Alkhovik and senior Ashley Tiefel took an 8-4 win. It was the first victory for Alkhovik and Tiefel together as a doubles tandem.
Alkhovik and Tiefel rallied to achieve victory after trailing in the match 4-2 with six straight points. After CU tied the score at 4-4, Alkhovik/Tiefel broke their opponent's serve, held their own, broke UO again, and closed out the match behind Tiefel's serve for the 8-4 winner.
At No. 2, senior Julyette Steur and freshman Erin Strachan rallied from a 6-3 deficit themselves to even their match at six. Oregon managed to hold their respective serve, then broke CU's for the 8-6 win and the key doubles point, which proved to be the deciding factor.
Trailing 1-0, CU received singles wins from Steur at No. 1, Tiefel at No. 6, and sophomore Ormeño Ruiz at No. 2.
Steur evened the team score at one with a straight set winner over Nia Rose, 6-1, 6-1. It was Steur's 15th win of the year and ninth of the spring. Steur's singles win was also her 58th of her career.
Oregon pushed ahead taking a commanding 3-1 advantage with wins at the No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Oregon's Marlou Kluiving defeated Vitaliya Alkhovik 6-2, 6-1 at No. 4 singles, then moments later, at No. 5, Lina Åkesson defeated Erin Strachan, 6-2, 6-1 as Oregon pushed ahead 3-1.
Tiefel rallied the Buffaloes cutting their deficit at 3-2 taking another CU straight set winner, 6-3, 6-4 against Paloma Gomez at No. 6. It was Tiefel's seventh triumph of the year, fourth of the dual season. Both Steur and Tiefel picked up their first conference wins of the spring on Sunday.
Ormeño Ruiz evened the team score at three, engineering her own come-from-behind victory (sixth career) with a three-set winner over Alyssa Tobita, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) at the No. 2 position. Ormeño Ruiz picked up her second straight Pac-12 win of the year and her team-best 11 win of the spring.
The match was decided at No. 3 in a battle of freshmen as Oregon's Nicole Long pushed her team ahead for the final clinching point, defeating Kyra Wojcik, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
CU played without junior Alex Aiello and freshman Tina Bokhua, who are both nursing injuries.
“Those players that are playing, this is an opportunity to feel it, feel the hurt and feel the disappointment, and look for them to use this to work harder,” Kenneally said.
“This loss hurts when you get this close. We have spring break week to heal and get some bodies back. It will be nice to think we could be full strength next week for Washington State and that's what we'll work towards and see how it goes. We'll continue to look within, who we want to be, who are we, what are we made of.”
Colorado concludes its five-match home-stand next Sunday, March 29 at 10 a.m. when Washington State visits Boulder. Check www.CUBuffs.com later in the week whether the match will be played outside at the South Campus Courts, or inside at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center (Millennium Hotel Harvest House).
No. 60 Oregon 4, No. 56 Colorado 3
UO (8-5, 2-1 Pac-12), CU (9-8, 0-6 Pac-12)
March 22, CU South Campus Courts
Boulder, Colo.
1d) Rose/Tobita (UO) Ormeño Ruiz/Wojcik (CU) 8-2
2d) Long/Kluiving (UO) def. Steur/Strachan (CU) 8-6
3d) Alkhovik/Tiefel (CU) def. Åkesson/Hager (UO) 8-4
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2
1s) Julyette Steur (CU) def. Nia Rose (UO) 6-1, 6-1
2s) Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU) def. Alyssa Tobita (UO) 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4)
3s) Nicole Long (UO) def. Kyra Wojcik (CU) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3
4s) Marlou Kluiving (UO) def. Vitaliya Alkhovik (CU) 6-2, 6-1
5s) Lina Åkesson (UO) def. Erin Strachan (CU) 6-2, 6-1
6s) Ashley Tiefel (CU) def. Paloma Gomez (UO) 6-3, 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 4, 5, 6, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
