Buffs Fall to Utah in First Round of the Pac-12 Championship

OJAI, Calif. – The final season in the Pac-12 conference ended Wednesday afternoon for the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team after a 4-1 loss to Utah at the Weil Tennis Academy in the first round of the tournament.

After Colorado (12-10, 1-8) faced off against Utah (12-10, 3-7) in the regular season finale the two took the courts again but this time in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament. Unlike before the Utes got off to a hot start taking the doubles point, as well as the first two singles matches.

The Buffs took the first set in two singles matches and regained some control of the match. Mila Stanojevic was then able to capture the lone win of the day.

Utah finished the match with one more win to advance to the second round.

Despite the end result of the Pac-12 season, the Buffs made strides in moving the program forward. This was the first time since 2008 that the program won at least 12 matches in consecutive years. While the ending was not what the team desired the future is bright in Boulder.

"Tough match for our team today," head coach Anthony Pham said on the loss. "Overall really proud of everything this group accomplished both on and off the court this season. Tremendous growth from our crew and they should be incredibly proud of helping continue to push the needle forward for CU Buffs tennis."

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first finished match of the entire tournament was taken by Utah at No. 1 doubles in a ranked fashion. No. 63 Cruz and Lopez took the match 6-1 over No. 54 Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec.
• The doubles point was clinched in the next match behind a 6-3 win from Akid and Barksdale over Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson at No. 3 doubles.
• Stanojevic and Elys Ventura's match was left unfinished at No. 2 doubles against Horwood and Lyman with the score 4-5 in favor of the Utes.
• Moving to singles, the momentum stayed with Utah beginning with Sara Akid at No. 6 singles. She won 6-2, 6-2 over Rebec to earn a 2-0 lead.
• Betina Tokac was in a battle in the first set against Kaila Barksdale at No. 4 singles. In the first set, they were tied up at four games apiece when Barksdale rattled off eight consecutive games to win the match 6-4, 6-0.
• The Buffs got the lone win of the afternoon at No. 3 singles from Stanojevic. In the first set, she was in control over Kat Lyman cruising to a 6-4 win. The second set however was a different story. She went down early in the second set 3-1 before exploding for five straight games to clinch the match with a 6-3 win.
• Utah was able to clinch the match and advance from a 6-3, 6-2 win from Emma Kamper over Alexandra Abyasova. For Abyasova she made a final run after being down 5-0 in the second set winning two games, but was unable to finish off the comeback.
• El Sayed's and Ventura's matches were left unfinished after the clinch, both of which were in a rematch from last weekend. For El Sayed in a reversal of fortune, she won the first set 6-4 but lost the second set 6-3 and had yet to start the final set. In Ventura's case, she narrowly lost the first set in a 7-6 (5) tiebreaker and was down 5-4 in the second set.

UP NEXT
The Buffs wrapped up the final season in the Pac-12 conference and will not wait to see if they qualify and receive an opportunity for postseason play.

RESULTS
No. 9 Utah 4, No. 8 Colorado 1
April 24, 2024
Ojai, Calif. (Weil Tennis Academy)
 
Doubles
1.       No. 63 Cruz/Lopez (UU) def. No. 54 El Sayed/Rebec (CU) 6-1
2.       Stanojevic/Ventura (CU) vs. Horwood/Lyman (UU) 4-5, unf.
3.       Akid/Barksdale (UU) vs. Bubalo/Nelson (CU) 6-3
Order of Finish: (1,3*)

Singles
1.       Aya El Sayed (CU) vs. Yuhan Liu (UU) 6-4, 3-6
2.       Elys Ventura (CU) vs. Marcela Lopez (UU) 6-7(5), 4-5
3.       Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Kat Lyman (UU) 6-4, 6-3
4.       Kaila Barksdale (UU) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 6-4, 6-0
5.       Emma Kamper (UU) def. Alexandra Abyasova (CU) 6-3, 6-2
6.       Sara Akid (UU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: (6,4,3,5*)