Buffs end fall campaign with 14 wins in San Diego
The Buffs racked up 14 wins in the San Diego State Invitational this weekend, held at the Aztec Tennis Complex. The Buffs finished the three-day competition with seven wins in singles and seven in doubles, including a sweep of the doubles on Friday and Sunday.
Colorado’s top duo, Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo, finished the weekend undefeated and dismantled Colorado State’s Sorcha Caves and Annika Planinsek to claim the invitational’s doubles title. Their 6-1 victory is their eighth consecutive win, making them a front-runner for the NCAA Championships later this month.
Alexin and Bubalo began the tournament against Denver Pioneer opponents, winning 6-3 to qualify for the second round. They then faced off against UCSD competitors Sonya Goldberg and Neha Guru, securing a 7-5 victory and later qualifying them to claim the doubles title. The duo also finished their singles competition on Saturday, with commanding victories over in-state rivals: Colorado State’s No. 1 and No. 2 players, Zaria McGinty and Annika Planinsek.
“We made significant progress today,” Colorado head coach Anthony Pham said. “[Assistant coach Erik Garcia] and I were pleased to see us play with such great energy and purpose.”
Senior Pia Rebec opened the tournament with a 6-3 loss to Stanford’s Caroline Driscoll on Friday, but quickly turned things around by finishing the tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win over CSU’s Leyla Tozin. Rebec later teamed up with Yukiko Ikedo to face off against UC San Diego's Neha Guru and Sonya Goldberg and pulled away with a 6-3 victory.
Senior Willow Gretsch ended the tournament with one singles win on Sunday, beating DU’s Remy Nguyen in two games with final scores of 6-4 and 7-6. Earlier in the weekend, Gretsch teamed up with Heidi Crncan to take on San Diego’s Charlotte Ketiel and Maria Shmako. They took it to three games, but fell short 6-3 in the final one..
“The team has grown a lot since we started back in late August,” Pham said. “We are eager to tackle the challenges ahead and prepare for our spring campaign.”
Alexin and Bubalo will continue their fall run by representing Colorado in the NCAA Individual Championships held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia, on Nov. 17. The rest of the tennis team will return to action in January when the dual-match season begins, with Big 12 conference play beginning in early March.
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