Buffs Get 5-2 Win Over UNC

BOULDER - The Colorado Buffaloes women's tennis team came out on top 5-2 in their home opener this Saturday against the University of Northern Colorado.

After opening their spring season in Indiana competing in the IU Winter Invitational, Buffs returned to Boulder as they hosted the Bears at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center. Led by No. 77 ranked senior Nuria Ormeno-Ruiz, the Buffs rolled over the Bears 5-2 and Ormeno-Ruiz stretched her singles record to a team best 10-4.

The Buffs have back-to-back dual matches this weekend as they head to Fort Collins on Sunday to take on in-state rival Colorado State.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs came out firing hot in doubles play on courts one and two. On court two, senior Ormeno-Ruiz and freshman Chloe Hule jumped out fast with a demanding 6-2 win over Rafa Mora and Courtney Schulte of UNC.

But it was juniors Jeannez Daniel and Louise Ronaldson that clinched the doubles point for the Buffs on court one with a 6-3 victory over UNC's Beth Coton and Remi Immler.

The momentum from doubles carried over to the singles courts. Playing on court one was Ormeno-Ruiz who currently is ranked No. 77 in the latest ITA singles ranking. She breezed over Coton 6-1, 6-2 to earn her 71st singles win as a Buff.

"Getting the doubles point helps a lot going into singles," Ormeno-Ruiz said. "It's exciting to feel good and play good back at home knowing we'll be on the road the next couple matches."

On court three was Ronaldson, the junior transfer from Mississippi State. She walked away with a 6-2, 7-5 win over UNC's Marissa Baca putting the Buffs up 3-0.

Daniel saw her second clinch match for the day. After leading 6-1, 5-2, Battersby of UNC dug her way back in the second set to give Daniel a tough match to close out. But the junior fought after trailing 6-5 and found a way to win. Her 6-1, 7-6 (8) score clinched the match for the Buffs as they stretched their lead to 4-0.

"Jeannez's match was huge because if she goes to a third then that opens the door a little bit for Northern Colorado," Coach Kenneally said. "For her to hang tight and stay strong in there was good. Obviously a good boost for her confidence, any win is a good win."

Freshman Hule had a tough match, as she fell to UNC's Courtney Schulte 7-5, 6-2 on court four.

Sophomore Andrinopoulos came out firing on court five and walked away with a 6-3, 6-1 win over UNC's Mora. With the win Andrinopoulos sits at a 5-5 overall singles record for this year.

Though the match was already won, it was decided to play out the remaining singles matches. If a remaining singles match goes to a third set after the match is clinched, then a super tiebreaker will be played in lieu of a third set.

After losing the first set 6-3, Wojcik climbed her way back throughout the second set on court six to get the 6-2 win to force it to a super-tiebreaker. Getting down quickly in the tiebreaker, Wojcik fought to comeback but UNC's Lily-Ana Kreutzer kept the lead and won 10-5 in the tiebreaker.

TURNING POINT: Once the Buffs clinched the doubles point early in the day, there was no turning back as they rolled into singles easily to clinch the match by wins from the top-three courts.

CU STANDOUTS: With the win today Ormeno-Ruiz now sits at a 10-4 overall singles record for the season, a team best. Followed behind Ronaldson (8-2) and Daniel (7-1).

WHAT IT MEANS: Buffs have had no trouble with Northern Colorado in the past, and they showed to have worked out some kinks during Saturday's match. Senior Ormeno-Ruiz looks to continue to lead the team throughout the nonconference stretch before Pac-12 play begins.

NOTEWORTHY: With the wins today, Ormeno-Ruiz now ranks 16th in Colorado history in total singles wins (71-40). She also now ranks 25th in doubles total wins (50-44) as well as 21st in combined singles and doubles win (121).

QUOTEWORTHY: "First match of the season, last weekend we played in Indiana so we got a lot of cobwebs off there and got some more off today. A little bit of nerves here today being the first dual match. Chloe (Hule) had some nerves but overall I was happy with how we played." Coach Kenneally on the win

"Non-conference is nice to get us ready for conference play. It's important to get confidence within these first couple matches of the season to get us ready for conference because it is so competitive and the tennis is really good." Ormeno-Ruiz on preparing for Pac-12 play

NEXT UP: The Buffs begin their road stretch as they head to Colorado State, Sunday at 3 p.m. in Fort Collins. Then they head to Idaho on January 28th to take on Eastern Washington and Boise State.

Singles
Pos.	Team	Players	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3
1.	CU	Ormeno-Ruiz	6	6
1.	UNC	Coton	1	2
2.	CU	Daniel	6	7	(6)
2.	UNC	Battersby	1	6
3.	CU	Ronaldson	6	7
3.	UNC	Baca	2	5
4.	CU	Hule	5	2
4.	UNC	Schulte	7	6
5.	CU	Andrinopoulos	6	6
5.	UNC	Mora	3	1
6.	CU	Wojcik	3	6	5
6.	UNC	Kreutzer	6	2	10

Doubles
Pos.	Team	Doubles Team	Set 1
1.	CU	Daniel/Ronaldson	6
1.	UNC	Coton/Immler	3
2.	CU	Ormeno-Ruiz/Hule	6
2.	UNC	Mora/Schulte	2
3.	CU	Andrinopoulos/Oleynik	4
3.	UNC	Bara/Battersby	5

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jeannez Daniel

Chloe Hule

Louise Ronaldson