Utah downs Colorado to Advance in Pac-12 Tournament

OJAI, Calif.  – The Utah women's tennis team picked up a 4-2 win over Colorado in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. 

"Really love how this team bonded and responded to some tough matches later in the season," said head coach Ric Mortera. "They have really come together as a unit and are executing at a high level. Proud of the team's win today and evenmore proud of how they achieved it."

Utah was able to capture the doubles point from the Buffs after narrowly dropping it last week in the last match of the regular season. To start things off strong, Utah's Marcela Lopez and Ana Luiza Cruz picked up a 6-1 win over Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec at the No. 1 spot. 

To clinch the doubles point, Kat Lyman and Yuhan Liu picked up a 6-3 win at the No. 3 spot in the lineup over Colorado duo Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson. 

In singles, Kaila Barksdale picked up a 6-4, 6-0 win over Betina Tokac at the No. 4 spot. Sara Akid followed quickly after to get a 6-2, 6-2 win over Pia Rebec at the No. 6 spot in the lineup to give Utah a 3-0 lead over Colorado. 
Colorado was able to capture the win on the No. 3 court to prevent the Utes from taking the complete sweep. 

Emma Kamper clinched for the Utes by picking up a 6-3, 6-2 win over Alexandra Abyasova in the No. 5 spot. 

Liu dropped her first set at the No. 1 spot 4-6 and won her second set 6-3. She wasn't able to start a third set before her match went unfinished. 

Lopez won her first set in a tiebreak with a 7-6 score. She was up 5-4 in her second set before the match was clinched. 

This is the just the third Pac-12 tournament win for Utah and the first win in the tournament since 2022. 

UP NEXT
The postseason continues for the No. 8 seeded Utes as Utah will take on the No. 1 seeded UCLA Bruins Thursday, April 25 at 1 p.m. (MT).  This will be the first time Utah has met up with UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament. The Utes will go into tomorrow's match up with a 3-6 Pac-12 Tournament record. 

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FULL RESULTS
Utah 4, Colorado 1
Singles (Order of Finish: 6, 4, 3, 5)
1. Yuhan Liu (Utah) vs. Aya El Sayed (Colorado) 4-6, 6-3 uf
2. Marclea Lopez (Utah) vs. Elys Ventura (Colorado) 7-6 (5), 5-4 uf
3. Mila Stanojevic (Colorado) def. Kat Lyman (Utah) 6-4, 6-3
4. Kaila Barksdale (Utah) def. Betina Tokac (Colorado) 6-4, 6-0
5. Emma Kamper (Utah) def. Alexandra Abyasova (Colorado) 6-3, 6-2
6. Sara Akid (Utah) def. Pia Rebec (Colorado) 6-2, 6-2
Doubles (Order of Finish: 1, 2)
1. Cruz/Lopez (Utah) def. El Sayed/Rebec (Colorado) 6-1
2. Kamper/Akid (Utah) vs. Stanojevic/Ventura (Colorado) 5-4
3. Lyman/Liu (Utah) def. Bubalo/Nelson (Colorado) 6-3