Buffs Roll Past Rival Colorado State

BOULDER - A fast start in doubles propelled the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team past the Colorado State Rams 6-1 at the Meadows Club on Sunday afternoon.

Another Rocky Mountain Showdown, another win by Colorado (3-0). Starting strong in doubles with a dominant finish to singles lead to winning seven of eight matches against Colorado State (1-1).

In the two doubles wins by No. 21 Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson at No. 1, and new doubles pair Lera Alexin and Mila Stanojevic at the No. 3 spot, Colorado outscored CSU 12-3.

"We took some strides again in doubles," head coach Anthony Pham said on the double's performance. "We still have room to grow, but we are proud of the improvement each week."

Singles saw some dominate and some battle through adversity to finish on top. Stanojevic set the tone in singles winning in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. The next two wins from Bubalo and Tokac battled to come away with wins after CSU claimed their only match. Tokac made a comeback in each set, first to win in a tiebreaker, then in the second to win the match after winning the final three games of the set to extend the lead to 3-1.

Just minutes later, Bubalo finished her comeback at No. 4 singles after winning the final three games of each set to clinch her first match of the season.
The win extends Colorado's regular-season non conference win streak to 14 matches going back to last season.

After the match was clinched, Aya El Sayed Alexin capped off the night. Starting with El Sayed who played the only three-set match tacked on a win at No. 1 singles 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Alexin blew through her match at No. 6 singles taking all but one game and ending the day with a 6-1, 6-0 victory.

"We know we have a group that is tough to beat day in and day out," Pham said on the team. "I think this match shows just how much depth we have. We can get points from everywhere, whether it's doubles or singles one through six."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Bubao and Nelson got the Buffs started strong dominating the No. 1 doubles from start to finish. The No. 21 ranked duo took down Logan Voeks and Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya 6-1.
After losing the first game of their first match together Alexin and Stanojevic rattled off five straight games to take control. After Mariya Dobreva and Diana Lizarazo took a game for themselves, Alexin and Stanojevic clinched at No. 3 doubles winning 6-2.

After the doubles point was clinched, No. 2 doubles between El Sayed and Rebec and Victoria Erechtchenko and Sarah Weekley were unfinished at a score of 4-3 in favor of the Rams.

With an early lead from doubles, Stanojevic was the first to finish in singles against Erechtchenko at the No. 2 spot. Her effort was led by two different instances of winning five straight games. The first ended the first set and started the second. Stanojevic used her second five-game streak to end the match winning 6-2, 6-1 to give the Buffs a 2-0 lead.

CSU took its first match of the day from Dobreva at No. 5 singles over Rebec despite a late rally. Rebec won three games straight to tie the second set at four games before losing the final two. With a 6-1, 6-4 win the Rams made the overall match 2-1.

At No. 3 singles Tokac battled the entire time but especially closing the first set. Down 6-5, she forced the tiebreaker and only surrendered two points winning the first set 7-6 (2). Tokac was down again in the second set, this time 4-3. Three games later and the Tokac won 6-4 giving the Buffs a 3-1 lead.

Minutes later Bubalo clinched the win for Colorado at No. 4 singles against Voeks winning the final three games of each set to win 7-5, 6-4. The win clinched an undefeated home non-conference schedule.

The only match to go three sets today was El Sayed against Weekley at No. 1 singles. Both the first and third sets were controlled by El Sayed. She was up 5-1 in the first and 5-2 in the third before ultimately finishing the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Closing the day Alexin dominated at No. 6 singles winning 6-1, 6-0 over Lizarazo giving Colorado a 6-1 victory over the Rams.

UP NEXT
Colorado will start a five-match road trip that will last over a month starting against IUPUI on February 1.

"You're always going to have more challenges going on the road playing on different courts, different surfaces, different crowds," Pham said on the upcoming road trip. "This team is battle-tested, at Air Force, at Northwestern, they are ready to go."

RESULTS
Doubles
1. No. 21 Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU) def. Logan Voeks/Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya (CSU) 6-1
2.   Aya El Sayed/Pia Rebec (CU) vs. Victoria Erechtchenko/Sarah Weekley (CSU) 3-4, unf.
3.   Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Mariya Dobreva/Diana Lizarazo (CSU) 6-2
Order of Finish: (1,3)

Singles
1.   Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Sarah Weekley (CSU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
2.   Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Victoria Erechtchenko (CSU) 6-2, 6-1
3.   Betina Tokac (CU) def. Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya (CSU) 7-6 (2), 6-4
4. Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Logan Voeks (CSU) 7-5, 6-4
5. Mariya Dobreva (CSU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 6-1, 6-4
6.   Lera Alexin (CU) def. Diana Lizarazo 6-1, 6-0
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