BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes Tennis team travels to Nebraska for two matches starting on Friday
against the Cornhuskers at 12:00 p.m. MST followed by a neutral site match against South Dakota on
Saturday at 10:00 a.m. MST.
The transition as an athlete from high school to college is hard enough as it is, but making an impact
early on in your freshman season is a mark of things to come for Carri Hayes. Still the transition hasn’t
been easy for Hayes, but she has adapted to the changes that have come.
“I think college tennis is so much more competitive,” Hayes said. “Opponents don’t give up as easily and
at the division one level everybody is so good. So, every single match, no matter no matter UTR
(Universal Tennis Rating), no matter age, everybody is so good. I feel like you have to fight for every point a lot more than you did in high school.”
After having surgery late in the fall, it was a tough road for Hayes to get back on the court and play how
she knew she could play.
“I just had surgery, so coming back from an injury is not easy,” Hayes said. “It’s not easy
to play division one college tennis being out for so long. I’m getting back and feel like I really have a lot
of momentum right now.”
Since returning against Denver on January 29 th Hayes has been building and improving every match. That
culminated last Friday with a match clinching victory at No. 6 singles against BYU which was also her first
career win at Colorado. But after the match Hayes was a little surprised at the fact.
“It’s funny, we were just laughing at that,” Head Coach Anthony Pham said. “I told her that and she goes
really. She cried a little bit, but I am so proud of the work that Carri has put in.”
Hayes looks forward to hitting the road and getting back on the court against Nebraska and South
Dakota this weekend.
“I’m really looking forward to competing,” Hayes said. “I know my team is going to do great and I’m
really looking forward to us playing well and cheering my team on.”
This weekend will be the first matched after being ranked 62 in the latest ITA rankings. The Buffs will get
tested in their first match of the weekend on Friday against Nebraska currently ranked 56. This will be
the 38 th matchup between the two school with Nebraska holding a 19-18 advantage all-time with the
last match coming during the 2011-12…
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