Colorado tennis season comes to an end in Big 12 tournament

Waco, TX. – On Wednesday, the Colorado tennis team pulled off an upset to send the No. 11-seeded Iowa State Cyclones packing and move on to the second round of the Big 12 Championship. However, on Thursday, they hit a brick wall in the No. 6-seeded, No. 35-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils, who beat the Buffs across the lineup for a final score of 4-1.

Things started slowly against the Cyclones. The Buffaloes were swept in doubles play before Betina Tokac’s quick 6-0, 6-2 No. 2 singles loss. Anya Nelson flipped the momentum with her 6-2, 7-5 No. 6 singles win.

Pia Rebec was deadlocked in the first set of her No. 4 singles match, which she finally won in a tiebreaker, 8-6. No tiebreaker was needed for the second set, as she won all the important points to win 6-1.

Emma Bubalo dropped the first set of the No. 3 singles match but swept the second one to force a third set, which she won 6-3.

At this point, Mila Stanojevic was in the third set of her No. 1 singles match with the opportunity to clinch the team win. Stanojevic dropped the first set, nearly swept the second and was down 5-3 in the third before going on a four-game win streak to win her match and advance the Buffs into round two.

Colorado’s season would end at the hands of the Sun Devils, whom it just faced last Sunday. The first time the two teams faced off, Colorado snagged the doubles point, but Arizona State wouldn’t allow it this time around, winning the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles matches.

Stanojevic finished her match first, winning 6-3, 6-1, tying the team scores and providing hope for the Buffs. Yet, this would be the only positive point for Colorado as Tokac, Rebec and Bubalo all lost in two sets.

Despite the loss, it was a historic day for Stanojevic, who captured the highest-ranked win in her career against ASU’s No. 46 Sara Svetac. It was her 70th singles win, which ties her for No. 18 all-time in the history of CU.

Stanojevic played her last match for CU Thursday, along with fellow seniors Tokac and Aya El Sayad, who was lost to injury earlier in the season. Coach Anthony Pham tipped his hat to the trio after the match.

"To Mila, Aya, and Betina [Tokac], a huge debt of gratitude for choosing to be Buffs, Pham said. "They have set a strong foundation for the continued success of this program. They left a lasting impact, and we miss all 3 dearly."

The Colorado tennis team will return to action this upcoming fall.