Buffs Open Season at Home

BOULDER, Colo. — The University of Colorado women's tennis team opens the 2018 fall season this weekend when it hosts the 2018 Colorado Invitational this Friday through Sunday.

All matches are free to the public and start at 10 a.m. The team will also host a meet and greet and a youth clinic for children 8^th grade and younger Thursday at 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the courts in CU South.

The Invitational will be a great opportunity to see where the new squad is at. Teams from Colorado State, Northern Colorado, San Diego, Sacramento State, Wisconsin and Abilene Christian will be present.

"The girls have been doing well since we started as far as buying into the new culture and working hard," said Head Coach Danielle Steinberg. "Practice is a lot harder than what they are used to. We are doing a lot of fitness right now as our fall training. For the most part we are responding well and learning how to be uncomfortable and adjust to adversity. I'm excited to see our girls this weekend working hard and competing. Practice is one thing, but you really learn about your players when they compete. After this weekend we can know what we need to focus and work on."

The Buffs will see a new era of action under Steinberg. Steinberg joined the Buffs this summer after serving as the head coach for Kansas State for the past four years. Last season she led the Wildcats to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and a 15-11 record, the second-most in program history.

Steinberg is joined by assistant coach Jovan Parlic. The Serbia native previously served as a coach for Arkansas, coaching the No.1 and 2 singles and No.1 doubles pair to top-20 national rankings on the men's side. He then spent time in Florida at IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy coaching the No. 1-ranked girls and boys players and a two-time NCAA women's national champion. Parlic returned to Arkansas the following year to assist on the women's team, where the team upset three top-20 teams and reaching the SEC Tournament semifinals as the 11^th seed.

Colorado is led by three returning seniors, Ilana Oleynik, Annabelle Andrinopoulos and Brigitte Beck. The team also added three freshmen in Ky Ecton, Megan Forster and Vera Markovic, as well as a junior transfer in Monica Malinen.

CU is coming off a 9-12 season which included a 2-7 mark in conference play. The Buffs were 7-1 against Mountain Region opponents.

SCOUTING THE BUFFS:

Annabelle Andrinopoulos: Andrinopoulos was 5-7 in singles competition and 9-6 in double matches last season. She went 2-1 in this tournament last season. The senior opened last season winning six-of-seven competitions before she suffered a season-ending injury in January.

Brigitte Beck: Had a breakout junior season with a 10-14 singles record and team-best 16-8 record in doubles play. She teamed up with former teammate Chloe Hule to upset the 65^th-ranked doubles team from Utah last season for CU's only win over a ranked doubles opponent last season.

Ilana Oleynik: The senior finished last season with a 7-10 record in singles play and 11-10 record in doubles. She earned CU's only point in the 4-1 loss to No. 43 Washington in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament last season.

Monica Malinen: The transfer comes to Colorado from Western Kentucky. She was named second-team All-Conference USA in doubles play while posting a 11-9 record in singles matches.

Ky Ecton: The Colorado native joins the Buffs from Poudre High School. She was a four-time letterwinner at No.1 singles and was named the 5A state player of the year as a junior and senior after taking the No.1 singles state championship both years.

Megan Forster: Forster comes to CU from London, England where she was the British national doubles champion for the U-18 team in 2017. She helped Cumberland Club finish second at the National Club League tournament.

Vera Markovic: Was a member of the Serbia U-18 National Team. She was the national champion at the U-14 and U-18 levels.

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Andrinopoulos

Brigitte Beck

Ky Ecton

Megan Forster

Chloe Hule

Monica Malinen

Vera Markovic

Ilana Oleynik

Colorado University Athletics