Colorado
Oregon
Buffs Upset No. 41 Oregon For First Pac-12 Road Win
April 08, 2016 | Tennis
EUGENE, Ore. - Colorado earned its biggest upset win since 2009 on Friday, topping No. 41 Oregon 4-3 in Eugene, Ore.
The Buffaloes improved to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in the Pac-12, while Oregon dropped to 11-8 and 3-6. The Ducks were the highest-ranked team CU has defeated wins beating No. 38 UNLV in 2009.
Colorado has now matched its best win total in the Pac-12 since joining the league in 2011-12 and can top that with a win over Utah next weekend at home. It was also CU's first-ever Pac-12 road win.
The entire match came down to the No. 1 singles position at Nuria Ormeño Ruiz and Nia Rose were entrenched in a tight battle. With all of the other matches already finished and the team score tied 3-3, Ormeño Ruiz and Rose began their third set and Ormeño Ruiz prevailed with a 7-6 (5) win in the third. The two split the first two sets with Ormeño Ruiz coming out on top in the first 7-6 (4) and Rose taking the second 6-3.
"Nuria obviously played a very tight first set and her opponent got up a break early to pull ahead," head coach Nicole Kenneally said. "She made a run at the end, but it was too much to overcome. The third set it was just backwards and forwards. Once it got to the tiebreaker, it came down to who can hold. Who's going to have the better situation with the serve. She got down 2-0 and then was up 4-2. She won a huge point a 4-all and then she hit a really solid serve at match point.
"Ultimately she's the one I want out there if we have that situation. I'm so happy for her to have that experience of closing out and winning that type of match for her, her teammates and the program. She's worked really hard throughout the school year. She makes it a year-round commitment and I'm glad to see it pay off."
It was Ormeño Ruiz's day as she and Jeannez Daniel also won 6-3 at No. 1 doubles to clinch the doubles point, the first doubles match and the first doubles point the Buffs have won in Pac-12 play this season. They took the doubles point after Oregon defaulted at No. 3 due to having only five healthy players to compete.
Alex Aiello also won a key singles match at No. 5, pounding Paloma Gomez in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.
"We talked before the match, 'this is your game plan. If you go execute it, you're going to win,'" Kenneally said of Aiello. "She went out and did that and didn't make it more difficult than it needed to be. Being a senior, it was one of those things that allowed her to do what she does best."
Wins from Ormeño Ruiz and Aiello were all the Buffs needed in singles to win with Oregon defaulting at No. 6 singles.
"Everyone was ready to go today," Kenneally said. "We felt like we had an opportunity. I think there were a different range of emotions on the team. Some of that maybe comes in experience. I think it's fitting that Nuria and Alex won in singles, being the two oldest on the team and having the most experience. It was nice that it was those two. Obviously I'd like everyone to win, but it was fitting that they did it with their experience."
"With them down a player, that helped, but we still had to win," Kenneally said. "Oregon came out extremely hard. We knew we had that opportunity in front of us and we were able to take advantage of that."
Colorado will play at Portland on Sunday in a non-conference match.
Colorado 4, #41 Oregon 3
Apr 08, 2016 at Eugene, Ore.
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Singles competition |
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1. #119 Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria (COLO) def. Rose, Nia (ORE) 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 |
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2. Tobita, Alyssa (ORE) def. Daniel, Jeannez (COLO) 6-2, 6-3 |
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3. Sangwan, Shweta (ORE) def. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle (COLO) 6-4, 6-3 |
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4. Kluiving, Marlou (ORE) def. Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) 6-3, 6-0 |
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5. Aiello, Alex (COLO) def. Gomez, Paloma (ORE) 6-3, 6-1 |
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6. Beck, Brigitte (COLO) def. No player (ORE), by default |
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Doubles competition |
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1. Ormeño Ruiz, Nuria/Daniel, Jeannez (COLO) def. Rose, Nia/Kluiving, Marlou (ORE) 6-3 |
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2. Sangwan, Shweta/Tobita, Alyssa (ORE) def. Andrinopoulos, Annabelle/Beck, Brigitte (COLO) 6-2 |
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3. Aiello, Alex/Wojcik, Kyra (COLO) def. No player/No player (ORE), by default |
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Match Notes |
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Colorado 7-13, 2-7 Pac-12 |
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Oregon 11-8, 3-6 Pac-12; National ranking #41 |
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Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,4,2,3,1) |
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T-3:29 |
Players Mentioned
