Buffs Down Denver in Home Opener

BOULDER – A fast start by the Colorado tennis team enabled the Buffaloes to take down Denver 5-2 in their home opener Sunday afternoon at the Meadows Club.

After starting slow in the season opener at Air Force, Colorado (2-0) flipped the script today against Denver (0-1) taking the doubles point in what has been a point of emphasis for the team.

Lera Alexin and Pia Rebec earned the first win of the day for Colorado with a 6-4 victory over Natalie Cinkova and Hana Novak at No. 3 doubles.

After losing only their second match of the season Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson clinched the doubles point with a win over No. 47 ranked duo Andrea Beltran and Marley Lambert 6-4. The pair improve their record to 14-2 this season.

"We know we can put three very good teams out there for doubles," head coach Anthony Pham said. "I think we saw more glimpses of it today, but I think we still have more room for growth. I know we are going to be a good doubles team."

At No. 2 singles Mila Stanojevic found herself down 4-1 early in the first set but came back by winning five straight games to clinch the first set 6-4. She outscored Louise Wikander 11-3 the rest of the match to clinch the first singles win and give Colorado a 2-0 lead.

"She has been here four years, and she understands what it takes," Pham commented on Stanojevic's development. "She has grown as a competitor and knows that even when you don't have your best what you need to do to win."

Minutes later Rebec added another win for Colorado with a consistent 6-4, 6-4 outcome against Denver's Natalie Cinkova to push the lead to 3-0.

Betina Tokac found herself down 5-3 in the first set against Marley Lambert before winning three of the next four games to force a first-set tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Tokac took four of the final five points to win the first set 7-6 (4). She finished the deal with a 6-3 second set win to clinch the match for Colorado.

The win extends Colorado's regular-season nonconference win streak to 13 matches going back to last season.
Bubalo added another win in straight sets to put an exclamation point on the home opener giving Colorado a 5-2 victory over the Pioneers.

The Pioneers are coming off a 17-7 season and an NCAA Tournament appearance. This is the third team the Buffs have played this season, and they played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The first to do so were Northwestern and Notre Dame at the Northwestern Tournament to open the season. Those two were played in a match format but did not count towards the official record.

"Denver is always a very good team," Pham said on Denver. "They make the tournament every year, they win their conference, and are usually a top 40 team, so we knew we had our work cut out for us. I thought we looked more like ourselves today."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The afternoon started with doubles and Aya EL Sayed and Stanojevic had a tough contest against the No. 110 pairing Claudia Martinez de Velasco and Louise Wikander falling 6-2.
Needing a win to keep the doubles point alive, Alexin and Rebec battled against Cinkova and Novak and came out on top 6-4 claiming the first win of the day.

In a top 50 ranked match at No. 1 doubles Bubalo and Nelson never led by more than a game against No. 47 Beltran and Lambert until finally clinching the doubles point. The duo
was tied up at four games apiece before taking the final two games to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead after doubles.

At No. 2 singles Stanojevic started off slow going down 4-1 against Wikander. Five games later Stanojevic had the first set in hand. The second set came much quicker in a 6-3 win to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Buffs quickly pushed the lead to 3-0 with Rebec calmly dispatching Cinkova at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-4 after winning the last three games of the first set and five of the first games of the second set.

Tokac followed that up by clinching the match against Lambert at No. 3 singles. It took a first-set tiebreaker, winning 7-6(4) before cruising to a 6-3 second set win to clinch the match. This was her first match clinched this season.

After the match was clinched Bubalo added another win at No. 4 singles against Martinez de Velasco 6-4, 7-5 moving the score to 5-0.

Denver got its first win of the afternoon at No. 1 singles from Beltran who is ranked No. 93 against El Sayed who stole the first set 7-5. Beltran took the second set 6-2 and the third set ten-point tiebreaker 10-1.

The final match at No. 6 singles was won by Denver's Cinkova 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (7) over Alexin.

UP NEXT
The Buffs will stay in Boulder for the final home nonconference match against Colorado State, another in-state opponent Sunday, at 2:00 p.m. at the Meadows Club.

RESULTS
Doubles
1.   21 Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU) def. No. 47 Andrea Beltran/Marley Lambert (DU) 6-4
2.   110 Claudia Martinez de Velasco/ Louise Wikander (DU) def. Aya El Sayed/Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-2
3.   Lera Alexin/Pia Rebec (CU) def. Natalie Cinkova/ Hana Novak (DU) 6-4
Order of Finish : (2,3,1)

Singles
1.   93 Andrea Beltran (DU) def. Aya El Sayed (CU) 5-7, 6-2, 1-0 (1)
2.   Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Louise Wikander (DU) 6-4, 6-3
3.   Betina Tokac (CU) def. Marley Lambert (DU) 7-6 (4), 6-3
4.   Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Claudia Martinez de Velasco (DU) 6-4, 7-5
5.   Pia Rebec (CU) def. Natalie Cinkova (DU) 6-4, 6-4
6.   Hana Novak (DU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (7)
Order of Finish : (2,5,3*,4,1, 6)

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lera Alexin

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac