Perfect Day Of Doubles Rounds Out Colorado Invitational

The University of Colorado's tennis team finished the four-day Colorado Invitational on a high note, sweeping four doubles matches from the University of New Mexico Sunday morning at the South Campus Tennis Complex.

“To come out today 4-0 and do that after starting the weekend 0-4 was a great turn around,” head coach Nicole Kenneally said.

Annabelle Andrinopoulos and Jeannez Daniel won their first match against New Mexico's Dominuque Dulski and Sharon Coone with ease. They earned the win 6-2 and never gave up the lead though Dulski/Coone tied CU's duo briefly at 2-2.

The Nuria Ormeño Ruiz/Vitaliya Alkhovik duo also defeated their first opponents, Rachana Bhat and Ruth Copas. After being down 4-1, the Buffs surged ahead to tie the Lobos at 6-6, forcing a tiebreaker. The final result was a win for CU, 7-6(3).

“Fourth day in I think we came out and competed hard,” Kenneally said. “I think we had good energy.”

For the second round of the day, Ormeño and Alkhovic faced the women their teammates had just defeated, Dulski and Coone, and kept up their energy, while the Daniel/Andrinopoulos duo did the same against New Mexico's Emily Oliver and Andrea LeBlanc.

Ormeño/Alkhovic and Dulski/Coone kept things close, but CU came out on top, 6-3. Daniel and Andrinopoulos also pulled out the win over the Oliver/LeBlanc duo, 6-4, to cap off a perfect Sunday at the Colorado Invitational.

“Coming out today and putting the play in there that we had was good, important, and needed,” Kenneally said.

Though CU's coach is pleased with the results of the final day, she recognizes that there is still work to be done before the next competition.

“I think they can be happy, but not satisfied,” Kenneally said. “I think we can keep getting better. I think we made good improvements this weekend and now we'll go back to the practice courts for a couple weeks before we head out of town again.”

The Buffs have nine days off from competition before they head to Los Angeles to compete in the All-American Championships beginning Oct. 7.

Doubles Round 1
Andrinopoulos/Daniel (CU) def. Dulski/Coone (NM) 6-2
Ormeño/Alkhovic (CU) def. Bhat/ Copas (NM) 7-6 (4)

Doubles Round 2
Daniel/Andrinopoulos (CU) def. Oliver/LeBlanc (NM) 6-3
Ormeño/Alkhovic (CU) def. Dulski/Coone (NM) 6-4