No. 51 Buffs Fall to Washington State

PULLMAN, Wash. – The No. 51 Colorado Buffaloes tennis team fell 4-2 to Washington State here on Sunday at the WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts.

Colorado (12-3, 1-2) took the first point of the day taking the doubles point over Washington State (9-5, 1-3) with two wins starting from the pairing of Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson who moved to 7-1 on the season and 3-0 in the Pac-12.

Needing one more Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec were locked in a battle at No. 1 doubles. After getting a late game to force a tiebreaker, the duo would close out winning the tiebreaker 11-9 to clinch the doubles point for the Buffs.

The Cougars tied the match with a win at No. 2 singles.

The Buffs would retake the lead after Carri Hayes captured her first win since UNLV on January 27. She finished in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

Washington State got two more wins at No. 1 and No. 3 singles to clinch the win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Washington State got the first win of the afternoon at No. 2 doubles with a 6-2 win from Fifa Kumhom and Yura Nakagawa over Stanojevic and Ventura.
At No. 3 doubles Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson found themselves down 2-0 early against Abouelsaad and Markov, but would turn it around and win four of the next five games to take a 4-3 lead. Needing two more games to finish off the match the duo finished it off, to give the Buffs a chance at the doubles point.
With the doubles point up for grabs, EL Sayed and Rebec were in control for almost the entire match at No. 1 doubles getting to a 5-4 lead. Alvarez Sande and and Tse would win two consecutive games to take the 6-5 advantage needing only one more game to take the early lead. El Sayed and Rebec didn't give in, the duo won the following game to force a tiebreaker where the match would get even more interesting. In the tiebreaker, neither pair could take control, until the very end, El Sayed and Rebec finally got the last bounce winning the match 7-6(11-9) to clinch the doubles point for the Buffs.
The Cougars got on the board with a 6-0, 6-2 win from Elyse Tse over Elys Ventura at No. 2 singles to tie the match 1-1.
Quickly the Buffs retook the lead after Hayes took down Martina Markov 6-2, 6-3 at No. 6 singles. This was the first win for Hayes since UNLV on January 27.
Fifa Kumhom tied the match with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Alexandra Abyasova at No. 4 singles.
El Sayed opened up her match with a 6-4 first set win over Eva Alvarez Sande at No. 1 singles. Slowly the match would go in WSU's direction winning the second set 6-4 and taking the final set 6-1.
Much like her previous match against Washington, Stanojevic started slow losing the first set 6-2. She stormed back and handled the second set winning 6-2. In the third set, she was unable to come out with the win losing 6-4. Washington clinched the match 4-2.
Rebec's match remained unfinished at No. 6 singles in the third set against Hania Abouelsaad.

UP NEXT
The Buffs will stay on the road traveling back to take on California and Stanford on March 22 and 23.
RESULTS
Washington State 4, No. 51 Colorado 2
March 17, 2024
Pullman, Washington (WSU Outdoor Tennis Courts)

Doubles
1. El Sayed/Rebec (CU) def. Alvarez Sande/Tse (WSU) 7-6 (9)
2. Kumhom/Nakagawa (WSU) def. Stanojevic/Ventura (CU) 6-2
3. Bubalo/Nelson (CU) def. Abouelsaad/Markov (WSU) 6-4
Order of Finish: (2,3,1*)

Singles
1. Eva Alvarez Sande (WSU) def. Aya El Sayed (CU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1
2. Elyse Tse (WSU) def. Elys Ventura (CU) 6-0, 6-2
3. Yura Nakagawa (WSU) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
4. Fifa Kumhom (WSU) def. Alexandra Abyasova (CU) 6-2, 6-3
5. Pia Rebec (CU) vs. Hania Abouelsaad (WSU) 7-5, 4-6, 1-2, unf.
6. Carri Hayes (CU) def. Martina Markov (WSU) 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: (2,6,4,1,3*)

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Players Mentioned

Alexandra Abyasova

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Carri Hayes

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Elys Ventura