Colorado tennis starts season with two wins

Colorado Buffaloes tennis senior Anya Nelson won convincingly in doubles and singles play against Montana State on Friday. (Photo by Kekoa Brown/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes tennis team dominated in its first weekend of play, sweeping Montana State 7-0 on Friday and Air Force Academy 4-0 on Sunday. 

The season could not have started any hotter, as CU quickly claimed the doubles matches on Friday. No. 1 pairing Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo won 6-4, and the No. 2 crew, Lera Alexin and Rixt van der Werff, won 6-2.

In singles play against the Bobcats, all six Buffs won their matches in straight sets. Bubalo at the No. 2 singles spot was the first to finish, winning 6-2, 6-2. Freshman Lani Brotman also recorded the first dual win of her collegiate career. She was the only freshman to start for the Buffs. 

Nelson wrapped things up, winning the No. 6 singles match 6-1, 6-2. She sealed the opening day sweep for Colorado.

The momentum carried into Sunday’s match against the Falcons, where Alexin and van der Werff started things off, winning 6-3 in their No. 2 doubles match. The second doubles win came from Brotman and Pia Rebec, who beat their No. 3 doubles opponents 6-4. 

For this dual, the teams played to clinch, meaning the first team to win four points would get the win, and every other match in progress would go unfinished. After already leading 1-0 thanks to the doubles win, Bubalo could do no wrong as she won 6-1, 6-0. 

At this point, the Buffs only needed two more wins, and the next one came soon after from Alexin, 6-2, 7-5 at the No. 4 slot. 

The final win came from Rebec 6-1, 7-5. The No. 3 singles match was back and forth in the second set, but Rebec held on to send the Falcons packing.

What sticks out from these two matches is the fact that the doubles and singles lineups were the same for both duals. It remains to be seen if these lineups will be tuned weekly or largely ridden out.

"There's a lot of room for growth for us, but happy to get through the weekend 2-0," head coach Anthony Pham said. "We played doubles a bit better than Friday, so that's good.  We know we are capable of playing at a higher level, and we have to keep working on that.  We did a good job of persevering and problem-solving today."

Colorado will be back in action at home on Friday against Miami (Ohio) and on the road versus Denver on Sunday.