Buffs Nearly Perfect Against Cowgirls

Friday, October 24

Colorado

Day 1

October 24, 2025 | Tennis

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Colorado Starts Pioneer Duals on a Strong Foot

By: Teagan Schreiber, Athletic Communications Student Assistant

DENVER – The Colorado Buffalo women's tennis team dominated the first dual of the Pioneer Hidden Duals this Friday, going 9-3 in competition.

The day started with doubles competition, as Colorado split the outcome with two wins and two losses. The first win went to Pia Rebec and Anya Nelson, downing Silver Bijlsma and Dilnaz Mashabayeva at No. 2. The pair recorded a 6-1 victory for their first match as a team.

Following at No. 1, Rixt van der Werff and Lera Alexin matched up against Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia and Madlena Orlova. The pair defeated the Cowgirls with a quick 6-2 finish, marking their fifth win as a duo.

To end doubles competition, the Buffs took two losses at No. 3 and 4. Willow Gretsch and Heidi Crncan switched it up facing two Denver foes Natalie Cinkova and Claudia Martinez de Velasco. The pair took three games but fell short, 6-3.

Ema Bubalo and Yukiko Ikedo finished on No. 4 with a tiebreaker, falling to Serina Abriola and Ruby Young. The match came to a 6-6 tie, and the Cowgirls took the lead back to win the tiebreaker, 7-2.

In singles competition, all but one of victories were held to straight sets. The first wins came from Alexin and Nelson on No. 2 and 4, due to opponent retirement. Alexin faced Orlova, taking the first set 7-6, with a 7-3 tiebreaker. Nelson began the second set against Mashabayeva after winning the first 6-3, and finishing the second set early in the lead, 4-1.

Bubalo finished next, taking her match on No. 5 over Abriola, 6-2, 6-1. "I felt really good on the court today," Bubalo said, "We had a really good last two weeks of practice, the team is feeling really confident, so it was a great day of matches."

Rebec following taking her match on No. 3 with matching 6-3 sets, defeating Bijlsma in quick fashion. Crncan recorded the largest win margin on No. 7, with a pair of 6-1 sets to defeat Ceinos.

Ending the day was Ikedo and Gretsch on No. 6 and 8. Ikedo took the first set over Young, with a near 7-5. After falling in the second 2-6, Ikedo brought back the fire to take the final set 6-3.

Gretsch ended the day on a victorious note for the Buffs, recording her third career tournament win and fifth career win overall. Gretsch faced Hanna Haber of Colorado State, taking the first set 6-3, and brining the second to a tiebreaker. With the set 6-6, Gretsch capped it off, taking the tiebreak 7-5.

Up Next
Competition will continue at the Denver Tennis Park on Saturday morning, with Colorado facing Weber State at 9 a.m. (MT).

Results
Doubles
No. 1 - Van der Werff/Alexin (CU) def. Kochelaevskaia/Orlova (UW), 6-2
No. 2 – Rebec/Nelson (CU) def. Bijlsma/Mashabayeva (UW), 6-1
No. 3 – Abriola/Young (UW) def. Bubalo/Ikedo (CU) vs 7-6 (7-2)
No. 4 – Cinkova/Martinez de Velasco (DU) def. Gretsch/Crncan (CU), 6-3

Singles
No. 1 – Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia (UW) def. Rixt van der Werff (CU), 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 – Lera Alexin (CU) def. Madlena Orlova (UW), 7-6 (3), inj.
No. 3 – Pia Rebec (CU) def. Silver Bijlsma (UW), 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – Anya Nelson (CU) def. Dilnaz Mashabayeva (UW), 6-3, 4-1, inj.
No. 5 – Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Serina Abriola (UW), 6-2, 6-1
No. 6 – Yukiko Ikedo (CU) def. Ruby Young (UW), 7-5, 2-6, 6-3
No. 7 – Heidi Crncan (CU) def. Eugenia Ceinos (UW), 6-1, 6-1
No. 8 – Willow Gretsch (CU) def. Hanna Haber (CSU), 6-3, 7-6 (5)