Colorado Heads to Air Force Academy for Pair of Dual

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's tennis team will head south to begin the 2019 season with duals against Montana State at 10 a.m. on Friday and against Air Force Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

The team has a new look with four players returning from the fall season and two new individuals joining at semester. Senior Annabelle Andrinopoulos leads the team and is one of three from Australia. She is joined by newcomers Sara Nayar and Tallulah Farrow, both freshmen that joined the team from Australia this semester. Additionally, junior Monica Malinen and freshmen Ky Ecton and Megan Forster all return from the fall season.

Friday will mark the first dual for new head coach Danielle Steinberg. She will begin her career at Colorado with a matchup with Montana State Friday morning. The Buffs own a 4-0 record against the Bobcats, including never giving up a point to the team. CU last faced Montana State in 2001.

The following opponent may be more difficult as CU goes against Air Force. Colorado owns an 18-1 record against the Falcons, with the lone loss coming in 2013 on the road. Air Force is 3-0 this season with three wins last weekend in Nebraska against Omaha, Nebraska and Creighton. Air Force will face Northern Colorado on Friday before taking on Colorado in the morning and Montana State Saturday evening.

Only Air Force has a ranked individual in the two matchups, led by TJ Fumagalli. She is 12-2 overall with ranking of 96^thand is joined by Kristin Kerrigan to form a tandem with a 15-2 record and the 35^thranking in the NCAA.

Colorado will weigh heavily on its doubles experience, which won 15 out of 25 matches during the fall. Malinen was a part of teams that compiled a 6-4 record to lead the Buffs. Only two of the seven doubles pairing from the fall include individuals on the roster this spring, with a combined record of 2-4 from those teams.

On the singles side of play, Colorado is led again by Malinen who had a 7-4 record in singles play in the fall. She led the way with a quarterfinals appearance in the ITA Regional Championship last fall. She is joined by Forster and Ecton with winning records, both earning a 5-4 fall record. Andrinopoulos picked up three wins in the fall in 10 tries.

The Buffaloes return to action early next week with a dual against New Mexico at home on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Following that they will depart for Minnesota where they are scheduled to take on DePaul on Saturday and either Montana or Minnesota on Sunday.

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Andrinopoulos

Ky Ecton

Tallulah Farrow

Megan Forster

Monica Malinen

Sara Nayar