Tennis Tops No. 16 Washington In Thrilling Comeback

BOULDER-It was a comeback for the ages. In one of the best tennis matches seen on CU's South Campus, the Colorado Buffaloes Tennis team defeated No. 16 Washington 4-3 on Easter Sunday here at the CU Tennis Complex.

Down 3-0, the Buffs needed extra sets in each of the four remaining singles matches to secure the win, which came on a thrilling 8-6 third set tiebreaker from Antonia Balzert.

"I told the team, I'm at a loss for words," CU coach Anthony Pham said. "The team just battled and wouldn't take no for an answer. This match finished just shy of four hours and it wasn't four hours due to rain delays or other things, it was a four-hour battle. This match could've been done in under two hours, we were down 3-0 and I couldn't be more proud of how we fought and battled and eventually pulled out a win."

After losing the doubles point, the Buffs quickly went down 3-0 with losses at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. Aya El Sayed was also down a set at No. 4 singles but pushed it to a third set to keep the Buffs alive.

Meanwhile, Balzert and Betina Tokac both won their first sets and lost their second sets about the same time that Mila Stanojevic finished off her three-set thriller at No. 3 to give the Buffs their first point and make it 3-1.

Shortly after, El Sayed completed her comeback and made it 3-2, her 10th straight win, marking the most since the 2015-16 season when Nuria Ormeno Ruiz hit 10 straight in the fall season. It's CU's longest win streak in the spring since Morgan Sall won 11 straight in 2003 and is tied for the 12th longest streak in CU history.

After El Sayed completed her comeback, Tokac pounced on her opponent at No. 5 singles and made a 6-0 statement in the third set to make it 3-3.

Balzert then needed every ounce of her energy to finish her match and pick up her 50th career singles victory. She had a match point at the end of her second set before falling and after opening 3-0 in the third set, it eventually and perhaps fittingly went to a tiebreaker. After opening the tiebreaker 5-0, at 6-1 she lost five straight before winning the final two to take her set, match and the team victory with a 8-6 win in the tiebreaker.

"It was so tiring," Balzert said. "She started hitting slices and didn't play my game. I had to stay patient, and I wouldn't say being patient is my strongest suit, but I did pretty good today staying in there and playing hard and believed in myself as much as I could. I could tell we were coming back, especially because the crowd was awesome. My team was cheering so hard and I felt the energy. I saw Betina win and I knew I was going to be the deciding match. I had a match ball in the second, match balls for and against me in the third, it was a tough ride."

The Buffs picked up the program's eighth win over a team ranked No. 16 or better and for just the second time in the past 16 seasons.

How it Happened

Washington got the afternoon started with a 6-3 win at No. 3 doubles from Hikaru Sato and Zehra Suko over Ellen Puzak and Betina Tokac.
Shortly after Sarah-Maude Fortin and Erika Matsuda clinched the doubles point for the Huskies behind a 6-2 victory over Antonia Balzert and Aya El Sayed at No. 1 doubles.
No. 2 doubles between Colorado's Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura and Washington's Jennifer Kerr and Astrid Olsen remained unfinished at a score of 5-5.
Erika Matsuda got singles action started with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Carri Hayes.
In the Huskies last win of the afternoon at No. 2 singles Sarah-Maude Fortin defeated Elys Ventura 6-2, 6-2.
At No. 3 singles the momentum began to shift with a back-and-forth match between Mila Stanojevic and Astrid Olsen with every set finishing 6-2. Stanojevic closed out the third set winning 6-2 to give the Buffs their first point of the day.
After dropping the first set 6-3 at No. 4 singles Aya El Sayed regained the momentum to win the last two sets 6-4, 6-4 over Jennifer Kerr to win her tenth consecutive match.
With the Buffs down one Betina Tokac went through a rollercoaster of a match starting by winning the first set in a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker. Tokac dropped a tight second set 6-4 to set up a third set between Washington's Melissa Sakar at No. 5 singles. The ensuing third set was dominated by Tokac winning 6-0 to tie the match for the Buffs.
In the match of the day Senior Antonia Balzert delivered for the Buffs at No. 1 singles. After splitting the first two sets 6-4, 5-7 it came down to the third set. The third set was a down to the wire as a match could get. With the score tied up at six games the match came town to a seven-point tiebreaker. Like the rest of the match there were ups and downs throughout but at the end it came down to the very end. With the tiebreak score even 6-6, Balzert delivered two consecutive points to win the third set 7-6 (6) over the 97th ranked Hikaru Sato and clinch the upset win over the 16th ranked Huskies.

Up Next
The Buffs will travel to Arizona next week for the last Pac-12 regular season road trip of the season starting with No. 30 Arizona State on Friday April 14 at 2:30 MST. The following day the Buffs will travel across the state to take on No. 49 Arizona at 1:00 MST.

Results
No. 70 Colorado 4, No. 16 Washington 3
April 9, 2023
Boulder, Colo. (CU Tennis Complex)

Doubles
1.   Hikaru Sato and Zehra Suko (UW) def. Antonia Balzert and Aya El Sayed (CU) 6-3
2.   Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura (CU) vs. Jennifer Kerr and Astrid Olsen (WASH) 5-5, unfinished
3.   Sarah-Maude Fortin and Erika Matsuda (UW) def. Ellen Puzak and Betina Tokac (CU) 6-2
Order of Finish: (3,1)

Singles
1.   Antonia Balzert (CU) def. No. 97 Hikaru Sato (UW) 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (6)
2.   Sarah-Maude Fortin (UW) def. Elys Ventura (CU) 6-2, 6-2
3.   Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Astrid Olsen (UW) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
4.   Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Jennifer Kerr (UW) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
5.   Betina Tokac (CU) def. Melissa Sakar (UW) 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-0
6.   Erika Matsuda (UW) def. Carri Hayes (CU) 6-0, 6-1
Order of Finish: (6,2,3,4,5,1*)

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Antonia Balzert

Aya El Sayed

Carri Hayes

Ellen Puzak

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac

Elys Ventura