Buffs Take On Utah in First Round of the Pac-12 Tournament

BOULDER – After nine final regular season conference matches, the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team will wrap up its time in the Pac-12 with the conference tournament beginning on Wednesday with a rematch against Utah at the Weil Tennis Academy in Ojai, California.

It is not common that you finish the last regular season match with a team, and follow it up with a rematch only four days later, but that is the case against Utah. After narrowly falling short in the comeback attempt the Buffs will look to clean up some things this go around.

"It's a unique situation for our team but I think our team collectively feel like we let one slip on Saturday," head coach Anthony Pham said on the opportunity. "Credit to Utah but I think yeah, we are excited and eager to have that opportunity to play Utah again, especially so quickly. Different locations and different conditions but the team is excited to have another go."

One of the players who look to avenge her loss is Aya El Sayed, who battled at No. 1 singles but was unable to finish it off. After dropping the first set El Sayed took the second and had a 5-3 lead in the third set but could not clinch the match.

She has thrived this season in her new role as the No. 1 singles player as well as a part of the No. 1 doubles pairing. El Sayed leads the team in overall singles wins this season with 19 as well as tied for the most doubles wins with Mila Stanojevic tallying 15 on the season.

For Colorado, they will look to win only its second Pac-12 Tournament match in program history after winning for the first time last season against Oregon in the first round. Much like this season, the Buffs had to avenge a loss from earlier in the season and they came through.

One of the reasons for so much optimism in this team and the future of the program is the growth that has been shown specifically over the last two seasons.

"We have seen tremendous growth from this from this group," Pham said on the team. "We're big believers that you'll learn more when you lose, as opposed to when you win. I think we've learned a lot about this group. We're resilient and we're going to give our best shot on Wednesday."

Starting against Utah at 10 a.m. MT on Wednesday the Buffs will open up the final Pac-12 Tournament. The team will take in all they can on the final trip to Ojai Calif.

"The Pac-12 in the three years I've been here I feel like it's a first-class conference," Pham commented on the final Pac-12 event. "All the coaches I feel like do things the right way and are great academic institutions. It's sad to see it going away. Everyone at the Pac-12 all the staff, Ojai, [Calif.] in general, they run such a first-class event. So, while we're sad for it to be the last event, we're excited to, hopefully, have a good finish."

CELEBRATING THE 2023-24 SEASON
Before heading off to the Pac-12 tournament the team took time to celebrate the season at the Rooftop Lounge of the Champions Center at the annual year-end banquet and give out season awards.

TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS
12 Dual Wins
Back-to-back seasons with at least 12 dual wins (First time since 2007-08 and 2008-09)
11-match win streak (Tied for longest in program history in a single season)
Undefeated February (9-0)
Seven weeks ranked in the ITA Poll
First back-to-back seasons with at least seven weeks ranked since 2008-09 and 2009-10
Ranked No. 51 in ITA Poll (Highest Since 3/10/21)
Four players ranked individually in the ITA Poll (Aya No. 117 singles, Aya/Pia No. 54 doubles, Anya/Ema No. 70 doubles)

TEAM AWARDS
Highest GPA – Ellen Puzak
Weight Room Warrior – Mila Stanojevic
Heartrate Habit – Anya Nelson
Heartrate Improvement – Aya El Sayed
Tough Buff Clincher – Betina Tokac

The Buffs will look to continue their impressive season against Utah on Wednesday. Follow along on our team's Instagram and X accounts @cubuffstennis. Live streaming will be available here.