Colorado
Utah
Tennis Drops 4-3 Decision On Senior Day
April 18, 2015 | Tennis
BOULDER – In a closely contested matchup, the No. 49 nationally ranked Utah Utes edged the University of Colorado women's tennis team, 4-3 on Senior Day at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center, Saturday afternoon.
The match was moved indoors due to the inclement weather.
The 5-hour, 15-minute marathon ended with the Utes securing the No. 4 and No. 5 singles slots late in the match. They also won at No. 1 singles and took the doubles point.
It was also the last home match for senior Julyette Steur and Ashley Tiefel.
CU drops to 11-11 overall and 1-9 in the Pac-12 Conference, while Utah improves to 10-13 and 4-6 in the conference.
The Utes also won their fifth in a row against the Buffaloes and now have defeated their mountain time zone rival in all four matches in the Pac-12. They also lead 16-10 in the all-time series.
“Today was a good competitive college match,” CU head coach Nicole Kenneally said. “Obviously, (it's) disappointing to lose your last home match, but hats off to Utah. They did a great job in the pressure situations; they took it from us, rather than us taking it, so definitely something for us to build on for next weekend at the Pac-12 Tournament.”
One of the key parts of the match, turned out to be one of the deciding factors in the first hour with the doubles competition. For the ninth time in 10 outings, CU failed to earn the doubles point against the Pac-12.
It was again a close battle as the Utes edged the Buffs taking the No. 2 and No. 3 positions by 8-7(1) and 8-6 scores, respectively. The No. 1 slot was suspended at 7-7 as Steur and freshman Kyra Wojcik dueled back-and-forth with the nation's No. 38 ranked team of Bekerova/Petrovic. CU battled back on a pair of occasions at 6-4 and 7-5.
At No. 3, Utah's team of Najera-Salas/Da Rosa edged junior Alex Aiello and sophomore Nuria Ormeño Ruiz, 8-6 as the Utah pair evened their dual record on the year at 6-6.
At No. 2, the visitors clinched the doubles point as Richter/Cheng defeated Tiefel and freshman Tina Bokhua, 8-7(1). The Utah pair also evened their spring record at 6-6. It was also the first dual match for Bokhua and Tiefel, and seventh match as a tandem this year (they went 4-2 in the fall).
Trailing 1-0, it was Steur, who was the first one off the court at the No. 2 position for CU, as she won her 60th career singles match defeating Sarah Richter, 6-1, 6-2.
Steur becomes the 25th CU woman to win at least 60 career singles matches. Factor in her 50 career doubles wins, The Netherlands native now has 110 combined victories, tying for 20th all-time.
The straight set win for Steur was also her 48th career straight set victory and the 17th triumph of the season.
Ormeño Ruiz was next off the court, cruising to a 6-3, 6-0 win at No. 3 singles over Jena Cheng. It was Ormeño Ruiz 18th singles match win of the year and 14th of the spring, both team-highs. It was also the Barcelona, Spain native's, team-best sixth 6-0 winner in any set over an opponent this season.
With the team score, 2-1 in favor of the home team, the Utes evened the match, taking the top singles spot in a straight set tie-breaker as freshman Tina Bokhua was outdone by the nation's No. 67 player in Tereza Bekerova, 7-6(5), 7-6(2). The Utah senior leads her team with a 14-7 dual match record playing out of the first singles position.
The match was decided in the middle of the singles order as Utah sophomore Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa defeated Wojcik, 6-4, 6-3 at No. 5, then freshman Margo Pletcher rallied to defeat Aiello, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 for the clinching team point at the No. 4 slot.
CU sophomore Vitaliya Alkhovik rounded out the team scoring at No. 6 performing a collegiate first for herself, rallying from a set down to edge freshman Alexia Petrovic, 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(7). It was Alkhovik's first career match in three sets and her first-ever Pac-12 singles win.
The Buffaloes travel to Ojai, Calif. for next week's conference singles and doubles tournament from April 25-28.
No. 49 Utah 4, Colorado 3
Utah (10-13, 4-6 Pac-12), CU (11-11, 1-9 Pac-12)
Saturday, April 18, Rocky Mountain Tennis Center
Boulder, Colo.
1d) Steur/Wojcik (CU) vs. (38) Bekerova/Petrovic (Utah) 7-7 – did not finish
2d) Richter/Cheng (Utah) def. Bokhua/Tiefel (CU) 8-7(1)
3d) Najera-Salas/Da Rosa (Utah) def. Aiello/Ormeño Ruiz (CU) 8-6
Order of Finish: 3, *2
1s) (67) Tereza Bekerova (Utah) def. Tina Bokhua (CU) 7-6(5), 7-6(2)
2s) Julyette Steur (CU) def. Sarah Richter (Utah) 6-1, 6-2
3s) Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU) def. Jena Cheng (Utah) 6-3, 6-0
4s) Margo Pletcher (Utah) def. Alex Aiello (CU) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
5s) Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa (Utah) def. Kyra Wojcik (CU) 6-4, 6-3
6s) Vitaliya Alkhovik (CU) def. Alexia Petrovic (Utah) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0(7)
Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1, 5, *4, 6
Match Notes
• Steur and Ormeño Ruiz both won their eighth career Pac-12 Conference singles match, a program high.
• Steur also won her 11th match of the spring.
• Ormeño Ruiz' 14 wins during the dual season, is a career-high.
• CU drops to 2-2 in matches that end 4-3.
• Buffs fell to 4-1 this year at the Harvest House
• CU went 5-5 at home.
• CU is 0-4 vs. No. 26-50 nationally ranked teams, 4-10 overall.
• CU is 3-10 when losing the doubles point.
Players Mentioned
