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Buffs tennis sweeps IU Indy but falls short to Illinois

Colby Wyatt

Ema Bubalo prepares to serve against the Colorado State Rams on Jan. 26, 2025.
Ema Bubalo (above) and the Colorado Buffaloes had a busy weekend in the Midwest, as they secured a victory over IU Indy but came up short against Illinois. (Photo via Tyler Phillips/Sko Buffs Sports)

INDIANAPOLIS and CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Colorado Buffaloes tennis team (4-1) had a busy weekend in the Midwest. On Saturday, they dominated the IU Indy Jaguars 7-0 but fell short against the Illinois Fighting Illini 2-4 on Sunday. 


On Saturday, Colorado had no problem handling IU Indy. Even without its No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, Aya El Sayed and Mila Stanojevic, CU won every match in straight sets.


Lera Alexin and Pia Rebec won the No. 2 doubles match quickly with a score of 6-1. Not long after, top doubles duo Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson won their match 6-3.


Anya Nelson took care of business in her first non-tournament singles match, winning 6-0, 6-2 in the No. 5 singles spot. She may not be used to playing singles but was comfortable enough to make quick work of her match.


Rebec wasn’t far behind Nelson. She won her No. 3 singles match 6-2, 6-1. Rebec extended CU’s lead to 3-0.


Betina Tokac was moved up to the No. 1 singles spot for this match, but it didn’t matter to her as she clinched the match for the Buffs with a quick 6-2, 6-2 win.


Alexin won her second match in a row, this time at No. 4 singles, 6-1, 6-1.


Willow Gretsch had a little more trouble than the rest in her season debut. The temporary No. 6 player won her first set 6-1 but had to fight a lot harder for the second one, winning it 7-5 after breaking serve late.


The final match to finish was Bubalo’s No. 2 singles match. She appeared to be running away with it after winning the first set 6-0 but stumbled a little in the second. Her opponent, Emma Dell, battled back to force a second-set tie-breaker. However, Bubalo was able to end the match and complete CU’s 6-0 sweep with a 7-4 victory in the breaker.


Sunday was a different story for the Buffs as they fell 4-2. Illinois came out swinging, taking a 3-0 lead, and the Fighting Illini was able to stave off a comeback from CU.


Illinois set the tone in doubles play, beating Bubalo/Nelson 6-2 and El Sayed/Rebec 6-3. 


In her second match at No. 1 singles, Stanojevic suffered her first loss of the season. She lost 6-2, 6-0 to give Illinois a 3-0 lead.


With the match on the line, Rixt van der Werff beat the No. 111 ranked singles player in the country. She dominated the first set and forced a comeback in the second to win 6-2, 7-5.


Tokac forced a close first set but lost 7-5. She responded by winning nine straight games, taking the second 6-0 and leading the third 3-0. Her opponent, Kida Ferrari, took the next four, but Tokac took the set 6-4 and the match. 


With the overall score now at 3-2, the comeback looked possible. El Sayed battled her way to win a grueling 9-7 tiebreaker in the first set. However, she couldn’t keep the momentum and lost the match 7-6 (7), 1-6, 3-6, clinching the 4-2 win for Illinois.


Lera Alexin was on serve at 4-4 in the third set before the match was clinched and she was unable to continue.


These two matches were the beginning of a five-match road trip for CU. The team travels to the University of New Mexico on Saturday to take on the Lobos. 

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