Colorado Cruises through Day One

SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Colorado Buffaloes tennis team competed in the first day of the ITA Mountain Region Championship at the George S. Eccles Tennis Center on Wednesday. As a team they went a combined 7-5 record between both singles and doubles play.

The action began early with all four of the double’s teams competing in the first round. Unfortunately, the Buffs struggled to find their footing early. Ellen Puzak and Betina Tokac fell to in state rival Zara Lennon and Sarah Weekley from Colorado State 8-4. For the first time as a duo Anya Nelson and Carri Hayes took the court together during doubles against Pac-12 conference foe Samantha Horwood and Emma Kamper from Utah. But like Puzak and Tokac, they were unable to finish the deal losing the match 8-4.

For the other two doubles matches in the first round they came down to a seven-point tiebreaker after having the score tied up at seven a piece. First, Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura found themselves evened up needing only seven points to advance against Idaho’s Annabel Davis and Ida Johansson. After battling the entire match, the ball bounced the other way leading to an 8-7(1) loss for the Buffs. On the other side for first-time doubles partner’s Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec also found themselves in the same predicament. For the first time at the tournament and together as a duo they found a way to gut it out advancing to the next round after a nail biting 8-7(2) win.

While doubles did not prove the results Colorado wanted, singles play was another opportunity and they took advantage going 6-2 for the first day. That started early behind a dominant 6-0, 6-2 victory by Stanojevic over Alexis Odom from the Air Force Academy. Meanwhile on the other side of the Flight A bracket Ventura was putting forth a business-like approach, winning 6-4, 6-3 over Anna Pinaieva from New Mexico. The next two matches in the flight A bracket did not go as smoothly. Both Rebec and Tokac lost their first-round matchups 6-2, 6-4 and 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 respectively. 

In the Flight B bracket the Buffs had no problems winning all three matches in straight sets. Puzak got them started with a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Weber State’s Dylan Lolofie. Nelson continued the winning way’s against Natsuki Nishimura from New Mexico State. She dominated the first set winning 6-0, but felt resistance in the second…