No. 60 Buffs Take Down Oregon in Pac-12 Opener

BOULDER – The No. 60 Colorado Buffaloes tennis team took down the No. 54 Oregon Ducks 4-2 in the first Pac-12 match of the season Friday afternoon at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center. This marks only the third time since joining the Pac-12 in 2010 where the Buffs won the first conference match of the season.

"I'm happy with the results," head coach Anthony Pham said on the win over Oregon. "The team competed really hard, but again that's a great thing with our group is that we're going to fight. I think getting the doubles point was huge today. It has been a huge emphasis all year, but especially the last couple of weeks because we know what we're capable of. We were fortunate enough to perform in that area. Today to get that doubles point was huge. Not only to get the point, but how we played was huge."

Colorado (12-1, 1-0) came into the opening weekend of conference play fresh after having a week of rest after playing nine matches in the month of February, and put the fresh legs to work early against Oregon (8-4, 0-1). The Buffs came out fast in doubles getting out to a 3-1 lead at all three spots.

With the fast starts by all three pairs, it became a race to the finish to see who would clinch the doubles point. Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec crossed the line first, followed by Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura who put the point on the board. Only 20 seconds later Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson clinched the final doubles match narrowly missing out on clinching the first point for the Buffs.

As the match turned to singles, the Ducks started to take control of the match winning the first two singles matches to take a 2-1 lead.

With the momentum of the match swinging towards Oregon, El Sayed swung it back in the Buffs favor. Down 6-5, El Sayed won the next game to force the first set tiebreaker, and that is where the match shifted. Serving well in the tiebreaker, she was able to take the first set, and begin to break her opponent. When the second set rolled around there was no letting up, cruising to another win at No. 1 singles.

"[Sophie] Luescher is a good player. Aya [El Sayed] played her in the fall in the San Diego State Invitational so she knew what she was going to get from her. She competes well, Aya did a good job of managing her. I think that helped her out in the tiebreaker. In the second set she settled down and was able to get through it comfortably."

With the match tied, Betina Tokac got the second half of singles started with her ninth straight win to open the season.

With the Buffs closing in on another win, Alexandra Abyasova was tasked with finishing the deal. After a dominant first set, Abyasova found herself down 2-0 in the second set. She followed that up with six straight games to clinch her sixth win as a Buff, as well as the first conference win of the season.

"I was a little bit nervous at the beginning just because it's the first conference match and we have to keep up the good work," Abyasova on her first Pac-12 win. "I was down in the second set 2-0, but I just remembered what I had to do. I was just feeling it."

The win marks the 11th straight wins this season, tying the longest winning streak in a single season in program history from 1988.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Getting the day started at No. 1 doubles El Sayed and Rebec cruised comfortably to a 6-3 win over Jagare and Martinez Moral.
At No. 2 doubles, Stanojevic and Ventura battled back from down 40-15 to extend the lead in the match to 4-2. They took full control from then on and clinched their match 6-4, as well as the doubles point for the Buffs.
Only 20 seconds after the doubles point was clinched, Bubalo and Nelson wrapped up doubles play with a 6-4 win over Aparisi and Young at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 3 singles, Stanojevic dropped the first set 6-0. Despite fighting back from 2-0 in the second set to tie it 2-2, she fell to Martinez Moral 6-2. The final score was 6-0, 6-2, securing the first point of the match for Oregon.
After going back and forth early on in the first set, the Duck's No. 2 singles Yee Chan was able to pull away Ventura late in the first set 6-3. She then took the second set 6-2, giving Oregon their first and only lead of the match 2-1.
At the top of the Buff's order El Sayed took an early 4-2 lead, however, Oregon's Luescher fought back and went up 6-5. El Sayed continued fighting and was able to secure the first set tiebreak 7-6(4). After the first set battle, El Sayed took a commanding lead in the second set 4-0. She closed out the set 6-1, securing a point for the Buffs, and tying the match at 2-2.
Tokac cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win in straight sets over Karin Young at No. 4 singles, retaking the lead for the Buffs 3-2.
At No. 5 singles, Abyasova was steady all match for the Buffs winning 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets against Candela Aparisi. With this win, Colorado clinched the match 4-2.
Rebec had a commanding 6-2, 5-1 lead against Tilde Jagare before the match was ended due to the Buffs clinching the win.

NOTES

With the win Colorado leads the all-time series 15-14 with two straight wins over the Ducks.
This marks the 11th straight wins tying the program record for most consecutive wins in a singles season which last happened in 1988.
This is only the third time since joining the Pac-12 in 2010, where the Buffs won the first conference match if the season.
Alexandra Abyasova and Betina Tokac remain undefeated so far this spring.
Aya El Sayed extends her undefeated record in Pac-12 conference play to 6-0.
Alexandra Abyasova, Ema Bubalo, Anya Nelson, and Pia Rebec all earned their first Pac-12 wins in their career.

UP NEXT
The Buffs hit the road again, this time heading to the Pacific Northwest March 15 and 17 to take on Washington and Washington State.

RESULTS
No. 60 Colorado 4, No. 54 Oregon 2
March 8, 2024
Boulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Tennis Center)
Doubles

1.   El Sayed/Rebec (CU) def. Jagare/Martinez Moral (ORE) 6-3
2.   Stanojevic/Ventura (CU) def. Chan/Luescher (ORE) 6-4
3.   Bubalo/Nelson (CU) def. Aparisi/Young (ORE) 6-4
Order of Finish: (1,2*,3)

Singles
1.   Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Sophie Luescher (ORE) 7-6(4), 6-1
2.   Jo-Yee Chan (ORE) def. Elys Ventura (CU) 6-3, 6-2
3.   Uxia Martinez Moral (ORE) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-0, 6-2
4.   Betina Tokac (CU) def. Karin Young (ORE) 6-2, 6-4
5.   Alexandra Abyasova (CU) def. Candela Aparisi (ORE) 6-2, 6-2
6.   Pia Rebec (CU) vs. Tilde Jagare (ORE) 6-2, 5-1, Unf.
Order of Finish: (3,2,1,4,5*)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexandra Abyasova

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac

Elys Ventura