Buffs Win At Air Force, Improve To 2-0

USAFA, Colo.—The Colorado Buffaloes Tennis team improved to 2-0 on the young spring season, traveling south down I-25 to the Air Force Academy where they defeated the Falcons 5-2 Sunday evening here at the Cadet East Gymnasium.

After going behind 1-0 in doubles action, the Buffs dominated the singles action, winning at spots Nos. 1-5 to earn the victory and improve to 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

"I'm proud of the way we competed and I thought we did a really good job responding in singles after dropping the doubles point," CU coach Anthony Pham said. "Air Force always plays good doubles, so hats off to them. We did a great job responding and engaging for four sets. It's always tricky playing here."

The Buffs improve to 21-3 all-time against Air Force and have won three straight, including two straight at the Academy where the Buffs improved to 12-2 all-time.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Air Force got on the board first at No. 2 doubles with Abby Cotuna and Isabella Flodin defeating Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura, 6-2.
The Buffs evened the doubles action at No. 3 with Ellen Puzak and Betina Tokac defeating Andrea Le and Courtney Swift, 6-4.
At that point, the No. 1 doubles match was tied 4-4 with Antonia Balzert and Aya El Sayed tied with Sydney Fitch and Alexis Odom. The Falcons won the final two points of the set to secure the win and the doubles point, as Air Force took a 1-0 lead.
For the second straight match, El Sayed disposed of her opponent the fastest, earning a 6-3, 6-3 win over Flodin at No. 4 as the Buffs tied the match at 1-1.
Minutes later, the Buffs took a 2-1 lead as Ventura defeated Odom, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 spot giving the Buffs a 2-1 lead.
Stanojevic kept the Buffs rolling with a straight set victory over Cotuna, 6-4, 6-4, to put the Buffs up 3-1 and on the brink of victory.
Balzert needed a third set, but in the third set just seven games to dispose of Fitch at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, and thus clinch the match for the Buffs, taking a 4-1 lead.
Puzak fell to Van Houweling at the No. 6 spot, 6-1, 6-3, to make the match 4-2.
Tokac and Le went back-and-forth in the first two sets, Tokac winning 6-3 then Le by the same score in the next set. Going to the tiebreaker in the third set, Le got out to a quick 2-0 lead but Tokac scored the next six to take a commanding lead and held on for a 10-6 win in the set and 5-2 win for the Buffs.

UP NEXT

The Buffs will remain on the road in state next week with a trip to Denver to face the Pioneers Sunday at 10:30 a.m. The Buffs next home match is against San Francisco on Feb. 4 at 10 a.m.

TEAM NOTES

The Buffs Improve to 21-3 against Air Force dating back to 1990, and the Buffs have won three straight matches overall against the Falcons.
The Buffs improve to 11-3 at the Academy and have won two straight there.
The Buffs earned five points against Air Force just the second time in the past seven seasons, also doing so in 2021 in a 6-1 win.

SINGLES NOTES

Antonia Balzert improves to 9-4 on the season and 2-0 in dual matches, both at the No. 1 spot. She now has six wins at the No. 1 singles spot in her career, 21 dual wins and 42 overall singles wins.
Elys Ventura improved to 10-4 overall on the season, including 2-0 in dual matches, both at the No. 2 spot.
Mila Stanojevic improves to 5-6 overall on the season and 1-1 in dual matches, both at the No. 3 spot. She now has 19 overall wins, 12 dual match victories and is 4-1 at the No. 3 singles spot in her career.
Aya El Sayed improves to 9-8 overall on the season including 2-0 in dual matches, both at the No. 4 spot.
Betina Tokac improves to 5-1 overall on the season including 2-0 in dual matches, both at the No. 5 spot.
Ellen Puzak falls to 1-6 overall on the season including 1-1 in dual matches, both at the No. 6 spot.

DOUBLES NOTES

Antonia Balzert and Aya El Sayed fall to 6-6 on the season including 1-1 in dual matches, both at the No. 1 spot.
Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura fall to 8-3 overall on the season including 1-1 in dual matches, both at the No. 2 spot.
Ellen Puzak and Betina Tokac improve to 4-2 overall on the season including 2-0 in dual matches, both at the No. 3 spot. They improve to 10-8 in their careers together including 7-6 in dual matches, all at the No. 3 spot.

QUOTES

CU Coach Anthony Pham
"I'm proud of the ladies and the way they competed. I could see us improve in a lot of things tonight from when we played Friday (against Weber State) and ready to get back to Boulder and get ready for Denver next week.

"Everybody did a great job tonight, just responding. You're going to win some of those points, lose some of those points, and it helps when you win a doubles point. But it shows even with us dropping the doubles point we can respond in singles. We did a good job of letting that part of the match go and focusing on singles.

"At this point we respect every team we play. Denver has always had a very good program and I don't think this year is any different. We look forward to playing a good match and keep improving."

Aya El Sayed
"I thought the day went pretty good. I'm honestly really happy with how it ended, so I'm glad with how everybody responded. We had to push that doubles point aside and everyone was focusing on every single match and we were trying to win as fast as possible so everybody could move on.

"We have very good team chemistry this year and I'm excited to see how the season goes."

RESULTS

Colorado 5, Air Force 2
Jan. 23, 2023
USAFA, Colo. (Cadet East Gymnasium)

DOUBLES

Sydney Fitch/Alexis Odom (AFA) def. Antonia Balzert/Aya El Sayed (CU), 6-4
Abby Cotuna/Isabella Flodin (AFA) def. Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura (CU), 6-2
Ellen Puzak/Betina Tokac (CU) def. Andrea Le/Courtney Swift (AFA), 6-4

Order of Finish: (2, 3, 1)

SINGLES

Antonia Balzert (CU) def. Sydney Fitch (AFA) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Elys Ventura (CU) def. Alexis Odom (AFA) 6-2, 6-3
Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Abby Cotuna (AFA) 6-4, 6-4
Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Isabella Flodin (AFA) 6-3, 6-3
Betina Tokac (CU) def. Andrea Le (AFA) 6-3, 3-6, 10-6
Van Houweling (AFA) def. Ellen Puzak, (CU) 1-6, 3-6

Order of Finish (4, 2, 3, 1, 6, 5)

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Antonia Balzert

Aya El Sayed

Ellen Puzak

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac