No. 72 Buffs Fall to No. 14 UCLA

BOULDER – Despite Aya El Sayed taking down the defending national champion the No. 72 Colorado Buffaloes Tennis team fell to No. 14 UCLA 4-1 at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center here Sunday afternoon.

The match was much closer than the final score indicates with Colorado (12-6, 1-5) losing two matches in third sets to UCLA (14-4, 7-1) with chances to flip the results.

"Our team competed really hard today and we keep saying this and probably sound like a broken record but we gave ourselves so many chances today against a very good UCLA team," head coach Anthony Pham on the match. I'm proud of the way we competed, proud of the way we gave ourselves a chance. We just, unfortunately, weren't able to capitalize on the opportunities that we gave ourselves."

The bright spot of the day came from No. 1 singles where Aya El Sayed beat the defending National Champion Tian Fangran who is currently ranked No. 31 in the country in straight sets.

"When you play a good player, and you play a good team it's never going to be easy," Pham said on El Sayed's win. "Aya did a really good job of navigating tight moments. Playing really high percentage, playing really smart, playing to her strengths. She really gutted it out and had a really good effort today against a really good player."

El Sayed has taken the challenge of playing at the No. 1 spot all year and playing the best players in the country. For her the challenge every day is exciting and what she came here to do.

"It's honestly exciting knowing that you're going to play a good player," El Sayed on playing in the No. 1 spot. "Everyone in every single lineup is great because we're playing big teams in the Pac-12. But knowing that regardless of what match I'll be playing it's going to be tough. Every opponent is going to be different and taking the challenge is exciting for me."

For Pham he has the ultimate confidence in his top player, "She has shown that she's very capable playing at that spot, but also has shown that she's is one of the best players in the country. Week in and week out and match after match in the Pac-12 everyone is good, but especially at that No. 1 spot. She works hard, she prepares, and we're proud to see her continue to make steps and validate all the work she puts in."

The rest of the match was incredibly close with matches coming down to a point here and a point there. With three matches going to a third set, it made the ending harder to swallow for the Buffs.

"It's tough because these matches it's coming down to I won't even say a handful but it's points that you can count on one hand that separate and that's where it's tough," Pham commented on the tight matches. "But that's sports. We gave ourselves so many chances. We're doing the right things, and we're putting ourselves in the right position. Next week against two very good teams in Arizona and Arizona State we have to keep doing the right things and we will capitalize on them."

HOW IT HAPPENED

UCLA's Ahmani Guichard and Bianca Fernandez took the first win of the day at No. 3 doubles 6-1 over Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo.
The doubles point was clinched by No. 79 Kimmi Hance and Elise Wagle with a 6-4 win over Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura.
El Sayed and Pia Rebec put in great efforts against UCLA's Tian Fangran and Elise Wagle; however, the match went unfinished.
Starting singles Ventura was in a battle against No. 32 Hance. After leading through most of the first set the score ended up tied at five. The next game came to deuce but the ball went the other way which eventually led to a 7-5 first set win for Hance. The second set finished 6-1 in favor of the Bruins giving them a 2-0 lead in the match.
El Sayed faced No. 31 Fangran at No. 1 singles and initially struggled, losing the first three sets. El Sayed reversed the momentum with a win in the next game leading to five straight to take control of the match. She added one more to win the first set 6-4. The second set wasn't straightforward but ended with another 6-4 win to give El Sayed the win over the defending national champion and give her the first-ranked singles win of her career.
At No. 3 singles Stanojevic found herself up 5-4 trying to close out the first set, but Fernandez ranked No. 80 in the country won the final three games to take the first set 7-5. Stanojevic quickly made a comeback in the second set, securing a 6-4 win. In the final set this time Stanojevic found herself on the opposite end of a 5-4 score with deuce upcoming. After a ferocious rally, the ball landed on the wrong side giving UCLA another win making the score 3-1.
In the final match of the afternoon, Betina Tokac put up a fierce fight against Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer. She started strong by winning the first set 6-4 but faced a setback in the second set with a 4-6 loss. Tokac kept her determination but fell short 4-6 to Lutkemeyer, resulting in UCLA's victory in the match.
With the match clinched Alexandra Abyasova who had just clinched the third set against Elise Wagle and Rebec who was in a battle with Ahmani Guichard were left unfinished.

UP NEXT
The Buffs continue their final home stand next week against Arizona on Friday, April 12, at 1:30 PM.

RESULTS
No. 14 UCLA 4, No. 72 Colorado 1
April 7, 2024
Boulder, Colorado (Rocky Mountain Tennis Center)

Doubles
1. El Sayed/Rebec (CU) vs. No. 43 Fangran/Wagle (UCLA) 4-4, unf.
2. No. 79 Hance/Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Stanojevic/Ventura (CU) 6-4
3. Fernandez/Guichard (UCLA) def. Bubalo/Nelson (CU) 6-1
Order of Finish: (3,2*)

Singles
1. Aya El Sayed (CU) def. No. 31 Tian Fangran (UCLA) 6-4, 6-4
2. No. 32 Kimmi Hance (UCLA) def. Elys Ventura (CU) 7-5, 6-1
3. No. 80 Bianca Fernandez (UCLA) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
4. Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
5. Alexandra Abyasova (CU) vs. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 4-6, 6-1, 0-1, unf.
6. Pia Rebec (CU) vs. Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) 5-7, 1-4, unf.
Order of Finish: (2,1,3,4*)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alexandra Abyasova

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac

Elys Ventura