Colorado
Utah
Ormeño Ruiz Earns Win In Regular Season Finale
April 16, 2016 | Tennis
BOULDER - Colorado's tennis team suffered a 4-1 loss to No. 49 Utah on Saturday to wrap up the regular season.
CU dropped to 7-15 overall and 2-8 in the Pac-12, while Utah improved to 13-10 and 3-7. The match was moved indoors to The Meadows Swim and Tennis Club due to adverse weather conditions.
"This playing group has come out and has fought hard in every match that we've played," head coach Nicole Kenneally said. "We've been competitive with everybody that we have played. We've had opportunities. When you have a starting lineup with one senior, one junior and four underclassmen, the experience I look for them to have gained will only be beneficial in the future. Today, right now, it hurts. But I think every one of them went out there with the intent to win and full gusto to give their teammates every opportunity to win, which is the only thing I can ask for. It just leads to more opportunities to learn, to grow, to mature, to gain experience [for the future]."
Nuria Ormeño Ruiz pulled off the big win for the Buffaloes on Saturday, earning a 6-2, 7-6 (4) win at the No. 1 singles position. With the Buffs down 2-0, Ormeño Ruiz brought the team score to 2-1 with her win over Margo Pletcher, giving the team a chance to stay in the match.
She breezed through her first set 6-2, before playing a back-and-forth second set. Neither player held serve in the final four games.
"With Nuria, you always know what you're going to get," Kenneally said. "And you're going to get the feistiest, most competitive player out there, who's going to play with all of her heart and do everything she can in every single point…You know a lot of times she's going to be in a dogfight. As she's gotten older, I think she's gotten more comfortable stepping up and winning in those situations. It was a great match at No. 1 and she didn't go away and neither did her opponent and she got through the finish line first."
Annabelle Andrinopoulos and Brigitte Beck picked up a 6-3 doubles win at the No. 2 position. Trailing 2-0, they won the next four games to pull ahead. The Buffs dropped close matches at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles, falling 7-5 and 7-6 (4), respectively, as the Utes took the doubles point.
Andrinopoulos was involved in a marathon match at No. 3 singles, eventually falling 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 to Brianna Turley. She trailed 5-2 in the first set before winning the final five games. The third set went the other way as she gave up an early 2-0 lead.
Alex Aiello is CU's lone senior and was playing her final home match of her career at No. 5 singles. She was one game away from going home with a win on Saturday, but the team match was clinched with her leading 6-3, 6-5, leaving her match unfinished.
"Alex has played anywhere from No. 2 through No. 5 in the singles lineup and throughout the doubles lineup and I'm just so proud of her," Kenneally said. "What she showed, the character she showed, the perseverance, the patience, especially in the last five weeks, [has been great]. She's been playing with one arm [due to injury]. But she's made adjustments and has kept giving herself opportunities to get matches. There were definitely times and days where it was extremely frustrating for her, but [she has shown] the true signs of who she is as a person. It didn't matter what she had wrong, she was going to be playing these six weeks, and she's done what she needed to do to play and she's done that her whole career. Her whole career here has been marred by injuries at times, but she's always been that player that's the first in, saying to the trainer, 'what's it going to take, I want to be on the court.' And she's been willing to do that. And as a coach, that's all you can ask for, to have someone with that passion to play and compete."
CU will head to the Pac-12 Championships next week in Ojai, Calif.
#49 Utah 4, Colorado 1
Apr 16, 2016 at Boulder, Colo. (The Meadows Club)
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Singles competition |
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1. Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria (COLO) def. Pletcher, Margo (UTAH) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) |
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2. Richter, Sarah (UTAH) def. Daniel, Jeannez (COLO) 6-1, 6-4 |
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3. Turley, Brianna (UTAH) def. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle (COLO) 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 |
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4. Cheng, Jena (UTAH) def. Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) 6-1, 6-7 (1-7), 6-1 |
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5. Aiello, Alex (COLO) vs. Carlton, Taylor (UTAH) 6-3, 6-5, unfinished |
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6. Beck, Brigitte (COLO) vs. Petrovic, Alexia (UTAH) 2-6, 1-2, unfinished |
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Doubles competition |
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1. #81 Pletcher, Margo/Turley, Brianna (UTAH) def. Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria/Daniel, Jeannez (COLO) 7-5 |
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2. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle/Beck, Brigitte (COLO) def. Richter, Sarah/Petrovic, Alexia (UTAH) 6-4 |
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3. Carlton, Taylor/Gerstner Da Rosa, L. (UTAH) def. Aiello, Alex/Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) 7-6 (7-4) |
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Match Notes |
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Utah 13-10, 3-7 Pac-12; National ranking #49 |
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Colorado 7-15, 2-8 Pac-12 |
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Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (2,1,3,4) |
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T-4:09 A-72 |
Players Mentioned
