BOULDER–It was a comeback for the ages. In one of the best tennis matches seen on CU’s South Campus, the Colorado Buffaloes Tennis team defeated No. 16 Washington 4-3 on Easter Sunday here at the CU Tennis Complex.
Down 3-0, the Buffs needed extra sets in each of the four remaining singles matches to secure the win, which came on a thrilling 8-6 third set tiebreaker from Antonia Balzert.
“I told the team, I’m at a loss for words,” CU coach Anthony Pham said. “The team just battled and wouldn’t take no for an answer. This match finished just shy of four hours and it wasn’t four hours due to rain delays or other things, it was a four-hour battle. This match could’ve been done in under two hours, we were down 3-0 and I couldn’t be more proud of how we fought and battled and eventually pulled out a win.”
After losing the doubles points, the Buffs quickly went down 3-0 with losses at No. 2 and No. 6 singles. Aya El Sayed was also down a set at No. 4 singles but pushed it to a third set to keep the Buffs alive.
Meanwhile, Balzert and Betina Tokac both won their first sets and lost their second sets about the same time that Mila Stankovec finished off her thriller at No. 3 to give the Buffs their first point and make it 3-1.
Shortly after, El Sayed completed her comeback and made it 3-2. Tokac pounced on her opponent at No. 5 singles and made a 6-0 statement in the third set to make it 3-3.
Balzert then needed every ounce of her energy to finish her match and pick up her 50th career singles victory. She had a match point at the end of her second set before falling and after opening 3-0 in the third set, it eventually went to a tiebreaker. After opening the tiebreaker 5-0, at 6-1 she lost five straight before winning the final two to take her set, match and the team victory with a 8-6 victory.
“It was so tiring,” Balzert said. “She started hitting slices and didn’t play my game. I had to stay patient, and I wouldn’t say being patient is my strongest suit, but I did pretty good today staying in there and playing hard and believed in myself as much as I could. I could tell we were coming back, especially because the crowd was awesome. My team was cheering so hard and I felt the energy. I saw Betina win and I knew I was going to be the deciding match. I had a match ball in the second, match balls for and against…
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