Sunday, April 13
Boulder, Colo.
12 p.m.
Colorado
3
vs
4
#33 Arizona State
Photo by: CU ATHLETICS
Colorado Falls to No. 33 Arizona State on Senior Day
April 13, 2025 | Tennis
BOULDER – Colorado closed the regular season at home against 33rd-ranked Arizona State. Following a Senior Day Ceremony to honor Aya El Sayed, Mila Stanojevic, and Betina Tokac, the Buffaloes fell to the Sun Devils 4-3 Sunday afternoon at the CU South Tennis Courts.
Stanojevic, who was head coach Anthony Pham's first recruit, closed out her career in Boulder on a high note, winning both her doubles and singles matches. Her doubles win with partner Lera Alexin was the 63rd of her career, and she now holds the 11th most in CU history. She followed that up with a straight-set victory over the No. 49-ranked singles player in the country. That was the highest-ranked singles win of her career.
"On Friday against Arizona, I just didn't enjoy it as much," Stanojevic said. "Today was a focus to just go out there and have fun and be present in the moment. I think I did a good job of that. It was awesome to be around the team one more time at home and have a lot of people show up. I really enjoyed it today."
With two wins today, Stanojevic has 131 total wins at CU; tied for 14th all-time. With her singles win, she now has 68 wins, tied for 20th at Colorado.
"I am really proud of Mila," Pham said. "She came ready to play. Senior Day is always a difficult day. So many different emotions are flowing through your brain, but she was able to compartmentalize and get to business. She was able to get a nice doubles and singles victory."
Stanojevic wasn't the only one to hit a milestone today. Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson clinched the doubles point and their 30th victory together in doubles. They now have the 9th most wins by a pairing in program history.
"First off, it was a hell of a fight by our group today," Pham commented. "I thought we completely flipped the switch from Friday to today. When it came to doubles, the energy was great. We were the more aggressive team, which translated to getting the doubles point. I'm really proud of the team; we got a great start in singles. We just couldn't quite close out some matches on some of the courts. It was a tough finish for the group, but I thought the way we competed across the board was excellent."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first doubles match to finish was No. 2 doubles, when Buffaloes Alexin and Stanojevic beat Aiya Nupbay and Emilija Tverijonaite 6-3. Stanojevic and Alexin took an early 5-1 lead over the Sun Devils. Nupbay and Tverijonaite made a comeback attempt, winning the next two games before Colorado closed the match 6-3.
Bubalo and Nelson finished the doubles point at the top spot against Karin Altori and Patricija Spaka. After taking a commanding 4-1 lead, the Sun Devils made the match interesting, winning three of the next four games to bring the lead down to 5-4. As they have done throughout their time together, Bubalo and Nelson ended the match with a win, 6-4, giving the pairing their 30th victory together.
The final doubles match at No. 3 doubles was unfinished between Pia Rebec and Betina Tokac and Lily Taylor and Karsyn Evans. After the Sun Devils took a 5-0 lead, Rebec and Tokac were slowly making a comeback, winning three straight games before the doubles point was clinched.
With Colorado up 1-0, singles matches began at No. 2 with Tokac and Spaka. The first set went back and forth and was tied 2-2 when Spaka pulled away, winning the first set 6-3. The second set ended 6-0 in Spaka's favor and gave Arizona State its first point.
In her last match in Boulder, Stanojevic went out on a high note, controlling the match against No. 49-ranked Tverijionaite. Stanojevic won 6-2, 6-4 including three of the last four games to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
Arizona State tied it again at 2-2 after Taylor beat Bubalo in three sets at No. 3 singles. The first set was tied at 2-2 when Bubalo won three straight games and eventually won 6-3. Roles were reversed in the second set after 2-2; Taylor took the rest of the games and won 6-2. The third set was a battle tied at 2-2 when Bubalo won two games in a row but ran out of gas and lost the set 6-4.
Rebec faced Nupbay at the No. 4 position in a three-set thriller. Rebec dominated the first set, winning 6-2, and kept rolling into the second set. She was up 5-3 and had a match point at 5-4 and three at 6-5, but Nupbay fought back to make it a tiebreak and won the tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Rebec couldn't keep up, losing the third set 6-0, giving Arizona State their first lead of the day, 3-2.
Needing a win to keep the match alive, Alexin was in a battle at No. 5 singles against Altori. The first set came down to the wire in a tiebreaker, but it went Altori's way 7-6 (3). Alexin rebounded in the second set, claiming a dominant 6-1 victory. Alexin kept the momentum in the final set, leading 4-1. Altori made a comeback as the match progressed, battling against match points to force a tiebreaker. Alexin after she found herself down 5-2 in the tiebreaker, before she rattled off four straight points and six out of seven to win the match 7-6 (6) and tie it 3-3.
With the Buffs and the Sun Devils tied at 3-3, it all came down to No. 6 singles Nelson vs Evans. Nelson started down 2-0 in the first set and brought it back to 3-3, where she took over and won 6-4. Nelson continued her run and started the second set up 3-0. Evans responded by winning 4 games straight to lead 4-3, which led to a tiebreak that ended in Evans's favor 7-6 (1). Nelson led again in the third set 2-1 but tired out, losing the last five games and the match 6-2.
UP NEXT
Colorado will travel to Waco, Texas, for the Big 12 Championship. In their first season back in the conference, Colorado will enter as the No. 14 seed and will face off against the No. 11-seeded Iowa State on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:00 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
RESULTS
No. 33 Arizona State 4, Colorado 3
April 13, 2025
Boulder, Colo. (CU South Tennis Courts)
Doubles
Singles
Stanojevic, who was head coach Anthony Pham's first recruit, closed out her career in Boulder on a high note, winning both her doubles and singles matches. Her doubles win with partner Lera Alexin was the 63rd of her career, and she now holds the 11th most in CU history. She followed that up with a straight-set victory over the No. 49-ranked singles player in the country. That was the highest-ranked singles win of her career.
"On Friday against Arizona, I just didn't enjoy it as much," Stanojevic said. "Today was a focus to just go out there and have fun and be present in the moment. I think I did a good job of that. It was awesome to be around the team one more time at home and have a lot of people show up. I really enjoyed it today."
With two wins today, Stanojevic has 131 total wins at CU; tied for 14th all-time. With her singles win, she now has 68 wins, tied for 20th at Colorado.
"I am really proud of Mila," Pham said. "She came ready to play. Senior Day is always a difficult day. So many different emotions are flowing through your brain, but she was able to compartmentalize and get to business. She was able to get a nice doubles and singles victory."
Stanojevic wasn't the only one to hit a milestone today. Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson clinched the doubles point and their 30th victory together in doubles. They now have the 9th most wins by a pairing in program history.
"First off, it was a hell of a fight by our group today," Pham commented. "I thought we completely flipped the switch from Friday to today. When it came to doubles, the energy was great. We were the more aggressive team, which translated to getting the doubles point. I'm really proud of the team; we got a great start in singles. We just couldn't quite close out some matches on some of the courts. It was a tough finish for the group, but I thought the way we competed across the board was excellent."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first doubles match to finish was No. 2 doubles, when Buffaloes Alexin and Stanojevic beat Aiya Nupbay and Emilija Tverijonaite 6-3. Stanojevic and Alexin took an early 5-1 lead over the Sun Devils. Nupbay and Tverijonaite made a comeback attempt, winning the next two games before Colorado closed the match 6-3.
Bubalo and Nelson finished the doubles point at the top spot against Karin Altori and Patricija Spaka. After taking a commanding 4-1 lead, the Sun Devils made the match interesting, winning three of the next four games to bring the lead down to 5-4. As they have done throughout their time together, Bubalo and Nelson ended the match with a win, 6-4, giving the pairing their 30th victory together.
The final doubles match at No. 3 doubles was unfinished between Pia Rebec and Betina Tokac and Lily Taylor and Karsyn Evans. After the Sun Devils took a 5-0 lead, Rebec and Tokac were slowly making a comeback, winning three straight games before the doubles point was clinched.
With Colorado up 1-0, singles matches began at No. 2 with Tokac and Spaka. The first set went back and forth and was tied 2-2 when Spaka pulled away, winning the first set 6-3. The second set ended 6-0 in Spaka's favor and gave Arizona State its first point.
In her last match in Boulder, Stanojevic went out on a high note, controlling the match against No. 49-ranked Tverijionaite. Stanojevic won 6-2, 6-4 including three of the last four games to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
Arizona State tied it again at 2-2 after Taylor beat Bubalo in three sets at No. 3 singles. The first set was tied at 2-2 when Bubalo won three straight games and eventually won 6-3. Roles were reversed in the second set after 2-2; Taylor took the rest of the games and won 6-2. The third set was a battle tied at 2-2 when Bubalo won two games in a row but ran out of gas and lost the set 6-4.
Rebec faced Nupbay at the No. 4 position in a three-set thriller. Rebec dominated the first set, winning 6-2, and kept rolling into the second set. She was up 5-3 and had a match point at 5-4 and three at 6-5, but Nupbay fought back to make it a tiebreak and won the tiebreaker 7-6 (4). Rebec couldn't keep up, losing the third set 6-0, giving Arizona State their first lead of the day, 3-2.
Needing a win to keep the match alive, Alexin was in a battle at No. 5 singles against Altori. The first set came down to the wire in a tiebreaker, but it went Altori's way 7-6 (3). Alexin rebounded in the second set, claiming a dominant 6-1 victory. Alexin kept the momentum in the final set, leading 4-1. Altori made a comeback as the match progressed, battling against match points to force a tiebreaker. Alexin after she found herself down 5-2 in the tiebreaker, before she rattled off four straight points and six out of seven to win the match 7-6 (6) and tie it 3-3.
With the Buffs and the Sun Devils tied at 3-3, it all came down to No. 6 singles Nelson vs Evans. Nelson started down 2-0 in the first set and brought it back to 3-3, where she took over and won 6-4. Nelson continued her run and started the second set up 3-0. Evans responded by winning 4 games straight to lead 4-3, which led to a tiebreak that ended in Evans's favor 7-6 (1). Nelson led again in the third set 2-1 but tired out, losing the last five games and the match 6-2.
UP NEXT
Colorado will travel to Waco, Texas, for the Big 12 Championship. In their first season back in the conference, Colorado will enter as the No. 14 seed and will face off against the No. 11-seeded Iowa State on Wednesday, April 16, at 5:00 p.m. MT on ESPN+.
RESULTS
No. 33 Arizona State 4, Colorado 3
April 13, 2025
Boulder, Colo. (CU South Tennis Courts)
Doubles
- Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU) vs. Karin Altori/Patricija Spaka (ASU) 6-4
- Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) vs. Aiya Nupbay/Emilija Tverijonaite (ASU) 6-3
- Pia Rebec/Betina Tokac (CU) vs. Karsyn Evans/Lily Taylor (ASU) 3-5, unf.
Singles
- Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. No. 49 Emilija Tverijonaite (ASU) 6-2, 6-4
- Patricija Spaka (ASU) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 6-3, 6-0
- Lily Taylor (ASU) def. Ema Bubalo (CU) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
- Aiya Nupbay (ASU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0
- Lera Alexin (CU) def. Karin Altori (ASU) 6-7 (3), 6-1, 7-6 (6)
- Karsyn Evans (ASU) def. Anya Nelson (CU) 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-2
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
12
Emilija Tverijonaite / 0 (49/-) [ASU]
24
66
#2 Singles Match
12
Patricija Spaka / 0 [ASU]
66
30
#3 Singles Match
123
Lily Taylor / 0 [ASU]
366
624
#4 Singles Match
123
Aiya Nupbay / 0 [ASU]
276
660
#5 Singles Match
123
Karin Altori / 0 [ASU]
716
667
#6 Singles Match
123
Karsyn Evans / 0 [ASU]
476
662
Order of Finish:
2,1,3,4,5,6
Players Mentioned
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