Colorado Falls To Columbia

MALIBU, Calif. – The University of Colorado women's tennis team fell to Columbia, 4-1, in the second round of the ITA Weekend Kickoff here Sunday afternoon.

The Buffs (0-2) dropped the doubles point to Columbia (3-1) as Antonia Balzert and Carolina Pozo fell 6-0 in the No.1 doubles match to Akanksha Bhan and Anna Zhang. Columbia picked up the first match point when Rachele Rimondini and Melissa Sakar defeated Mila Stanojevic and Megan Forster 6-2 in the No.2 doubles match.

Mila Stanojevic tied things up for the second day in a row after defeating Rimondini 6-3, 6-2 in the No.4 singles match. The true freshman has now won 10-straight singles matches dating back to her run as the ITA Mountain Region B singles champion.

Things were balanced through the first set of the five remaining matches with Pozo taking the first set 7-5 against Bhan in the No.1 singles match while Balzert defeated Sakar 7-6 (7-4) in the No.3 singles match. Columbia took the first sets in the rest of the matches with Zhang downing Forster in the No.2 singles match 6-4, Betina Tokac falling to Clarine Lerby 6-3 in the No.5 singles match and Ellen Puzak falling 6-0 to Michelle Xu 6-0 in the first set of the No.6 singles match.

Moving to the second sets, Zhang gave Columbia a 2-1 lead after defeating Forster 6-4, 6-3. Xu set up match point against Puzak 6-0, 6-4. Tokac took the second set on Lerby 6-4, while Pozo took the second against Bhan 6-2 to tie things up in both those matches. The nail in the coffin came as Lerby defeated Tokac 6-1 in the third set to clinch the match.

Balzert was on the cusp of taking the No.3 singles match up 6-5 in the second set while Pozo was down 3-1 in the third.

Colorado returns home for seven-straight home matches beginning Wednesday against Air Force at 12 p.m. in the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center. CU also takes on Houston next Friday at 1 p.m.

RESULTS
Columbia 4, Colorado 1

Singles competition
1. Pozo, Caroline (CU) vs. Bhan, Akanksha (COL) 7-5, 2-6, 1-3, unfinished
2. Zhang, Anna (COL) def. Forster, Megan (CU) 6-4, 6-3
3. Balzert, Antonia (CU) vs. Sakar, Melissa (COL) 7-6 (7-4), 6-5, unfinished
4. Stanojevic, Mila (CU) def. Rimondini, Rachele (COL) 6-3, 6-2
5. Lerby, Clarine (COL) def. Tokac, Betina (CU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
6. Xu, Michelle (COL) def. Puzak, Ellen (CU) 6-0, 6-4

Doubles competition
1. Bhan, Akanksha/Zhang, Anna (COL) def. Balzert, Antonia/Pozo, Caroline (CU) 6-0
2. Rimondini, Rachele/Sakar, Melissa (COL) def. Forster, Megan/Stanojevic, Mila (CU) 6-2
3. Ecton, Ky/Puzak, Ellen (CU) vs. Lerby, Clarine/Strugnell, Sophia (COL) 3-5, unfinished

Match Notes:
Columbia 3-1
Colorado 0-2
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (4,2,6,5)

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Antonia Balzert

Megan Forster

Ellen Puzak

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac

Players Mentioned

Antonia Balzert

Megan Forster

Ellen Puzak

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac