Colorado Heads To ITA Kickoff

BOULDER – For only the second time in program history, the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team will travel to compete in the ITA Kickoff Weekend which has been a staple of the Division I Tennis landscape ever since its founding in 2009, now with it's 15th iteration.

A total of 15 host sites are determined by the 2023 year-end national rankings with those ranked 16-60 participating in the ITA Kickoff Weekend Draft which determined each team's location.

For the Buffs, this weekend will take place at a familiar destination against a conference foe Stanford. The Cardinal are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation after defeating No. 9 Texas A&M and are 3-0 early in the season.

"Stanford is Stanford," head coach Anthony Pham said. "The program speaks for itself. It's a good opportunity for us to get out there and battle and compete."

The Buffs will be rolling out a combination of returners and newcomers this weekend, featuring the first match for new Buff Alexandra Abyasova, transfer from Illinois State. After missing the opening match against UC Riverside Abyasova will look to hit the ground running in her first match of the season.

"This will be our first matches with Alex with us," Pham said. "We are excited to see her compete for the first time as a Buff."

From the returning perspective the Buffs will look to lean on Aya El Sayed who enters the weekend leading the team with a singles record of 11-4 and doubles record of 8-3. This comes off the heals of her first season as a Buff where she finished with 34 total wins. She has begun to etch her name into the record books, currently sitting at seventh all time in singles win percentage at 69.5% with an overall record of 32-14. She will look to continue her streak of 10 consecutive matches won between singles and doubles, six in singles and four in doubles with partner Pia Rebec.

El Sayed is just one of the players that Pham believes can have success in doubles action, though he is happy with the ability to put different combinations on the court, he is always working to find the best three duos.

"I think doubles is always evolving," Pham commented doubles. "This year we have a lot of people who we feel comfortable that we can put in the doubles lineup and have success. It's just about finding the three best teams that we feel like can put out there and go get us the doubles point. The good news is we feel very comfortable with the personnel we have and we're improving a lot in doubles. It's just a matter of finding the three best teams that we feel complement each other and win the doubles point ultimately."

Two of the players Pham feels comfortable putting out in doubles are freshman Ema Bubalo and Pia Rebec. Both earned their first dual wins of the season last week against UC Riverside, Rebec at No. 1 doubles and No. 5 singles. Rebec was the first freshman to win at No. 1 doubles since Tallulah Farrow against Northern Colorado in 2019.

"Pia (Rebec) has had a lot more time with us," Pham said on Rebec. "She played a lot more matches in the fall, so I think she is much more comfortable on the court and she has a much clearer understanding of her identity and how she should be playing."

For Bubalo, she saw her first match as a Buff due to an injury keeping her out of competition in the fall and she made the most of it winning at No. 2 doubles with partner Mila Stanojevic.

"It was good for Ema to get her first match," Pham said. "Every day she is getting more and more comfortable on the court. Obviously being healthy has been great. We feel like her and Pia are progressing well, and they'll be important pieces for us as we progress this spring."

Action begins on Friday at 2 p.m. MT against Stanford with doubles and will return Saturday against either Maryland or UNLV. Follow along on our team's Instagram and X accounts @cubuffstennis. Live scoring and video will be available here.

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Players Mentioned

Alexandra Abyasova

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic