Friday, February 28
Boulder, Colo.
2 p.m
Colorado
3
vs
4
#54 Iowa State
Buffs Fall In Default Decision To Iowa State
February 28, 2025 | Tennis
BOULDER – Colorado's return to the Big 12 ended with a sour taste in its mouth as a questionable call ended up awarding the victory to Iowa State despite the Buffaloes leading the match at the time Friday afternoon at the CU South Tennis Courts.
In the end, the official result will reflect a 4-3 win for No. 54 Iowa State, who improve to 6-2, 1-0 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes fall to 6-3, 0-1.
After a back-and-forth affair between two old Big 12 rivals, the match was tied 3-3 after Aya El Sayed won a hard-fought, three-set match at No. 2 singles. That left just Betina Tokac. In a heated, back-and-forth match, Tokac found herself down 5-1 in the first set, and after being penalized for being overruled by the official, she came back to win that set in a tiebreaker.
In her second set, tied 5-5, she was overruled again, the third infraction of which is a game penalty. She called the ball out at deuce in the fifth set, was overruled to go down 6-5, and then lost that set, 7-5, due to the penalty. She came out quickly in the third set to take a 4-1 lead about the time El Sayed tied the match 3-3. After losing the next two games, she called a serve out and was overruled for the fourth time, the penalty resulting in a "default" result of her match and thus ended the day for the Buffs.
The officials were unwilling to comment on the record but explained the new rule the Intercollegiate Tennis Association instituted this season following the match. After two incorrect line calls deemed by the official, the player will be penalized a point; after the third infraction, the penalty will be a game, and the fourth infraction will result in a default and the match awarded to the other team.
A clear unintended consequence of a new rule instituted this season overshadowed what would have been a great start to the conference season for the Buffaloes. After another successful day in doubles to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead, the Cyclones tied it up early in singles and, up early in five of the six singles matches, looked like there was potential for a quick match.
Iowa State won the first set in four of the six matches and led 5-1 before Tokac made her comeback. Three of the four matches forced a third set, beginning with Rixt van der Werff, who tied the match at 2-2 after her singles win.
Following another win by the Cyclones, El Sayed tied the match at three after dominating the third set before the default ended the match and setup Tokac to complete the Buffaloes comeback that wasn't to be.
"Congrats to Iowa State," head coach Anthony Pham said. "We talked to our team about how every match in the Big 12 will be a battle and today was no different. Obviously, it's tough to come out on the losing end of it, but we put ourselves in the right position to succeed. It was unfortunate for it to end the way it did, but I know what this team is about, and I know we're going to be resilient and respond on Sunday against Kansas."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Overlooking a beautiful scene in Boulder, El Sayed and Pia Rebec started the afternoon with a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles over Anna Supapitch Kuearum and Cristina Ramos Sierra.
Iowa State earned its first win at No. 2 doubles 6-1 courtesy of Julia Camblor and Mari Paz Alberto Vilar against Anya Nelson and Van der Werff.
The doubles point came down to the No. 3 position between Lera Alexin and Mila Stanojevic across from Suzanie Pretorius and Valeska San Martin Ramirez. Tied at four, the Buff duo claimed the following two games to take a 1-0 lead early.
The Cyclones scored their first point of the day at No. 6 as the action moved to singles. Ramirez controlled the first set, winning 6-2 over Alexin. In the second Alexin pushed it to the brink but fell 6-4.
As one of the four who lost the first set, Van der Werff was the initial Buff to swing the momentum at No. 4 singles. Ramos Sierra won the first set 6-3, but from then on, it was all Van der Werff. She outscored her 12-3 in the last two sets to retake the lead 2-1.
In the match at No. 5 singles, Rebec battled back against Pretorius. After losing the first set 6-2, she flipped the script, winning the second 6-2 in her favor. Rebec ran out of steam in the final set, losing 6-0.
At the top of the order, Stanojevic faced off against No. 81 Kuearum and took a little time to get into the match. After losing the first set 6-0, Stanojevic forced a third with a 6-4 second set win. In the final set, Kuearum came out fast and won 6-2, giving Iowa State a 3-2 lead.
El Sayed was the only Buff to come out fast in singles, winning the first set 7-5 after taking an early lead. She looked to end the match quickly against Camblor at No. 2 singles but found herself down 6-5. El Sayed forced a second set tiebreaker but could not clinch the set, losing 7-6 (4). El Sayed did not mess around in the final set, winning 6-1 to tie the match at three.
"Overall, we lost four first sets, and in all those matches we brought in that second set," Pham said. "We forced a third set on three of them. It was good to see both Aya and Rixt play some really good tennis."
Even with all the theatrics that ended the match, the initial comeback by Tokac made every second interesting. She was down 5-1 in the first set to Alberto Vilar at No. 3 singles. Tokac responded, winning four straight and five of the next six games to force a tiebreaker. There she was down again, this time 5-3, and responded by rattling off four straight points to take the first set. During the first set, Tokac had her first line call overturned by the referee.
In the second set, Tokac tied at five games with a deuce point in coming. After having a second call overturned, giving Alberto Vilar a point earlier in the set, another was overturned on the deuce point, resulting in a game being awarded to Iowa State and, in turn, the second set. In the third and final set, with a 4-3 lead, Tokac was overturned a fourth time, resulting in a default, ending the match.
UP NEXT
The Buffs will return to the CU South Tennis Courts on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to take on No. 42 Kansas.
RESULTS
No. 72 Colorado 3, No. 54 Iowa State 4
February 28, 2025
CU South Tennis Courts, Boulder, Colo.
Doubles
Singles
NOTES
Mila Stanojevic recorded her 59th career doubles win at Colorado, tied for the 16th most in school history. She also now has 121 total wins, both doubles and singles, ranking No. 21 in CU history.
Aya El Sayed won her 50th singles match, becoming the 39th in CU history. She joined her teammates Mila Stanojevic and Betina Tokac.
In the end, the official result will reflect a 4-3 win for No. 54 Iowa State, who improve to 6-2, 1-0 in the Big 12. The Buffaloes fall to 6-3, 0-1.
After a back-and-forth affair between two old Big 12 rivals, the match was tied 3-3 after Aya El Sayed won a hard-fought, three-set match at No. 2 singles. That left just Betina Tokac. In a heated, back-and-forth match, Tokac found herself down 5-1 in the first set, and after being penalized for being overruled by the official, she came back to win that set in a tiebreaker.
In her second set, tied 5-5, she was overruled again, the third infraction of which is a game penalty. She called the ball out at deuce in the fifth set, was overruled to go down 6-5, and then lost that set, 7-5, due to the penalty. She came out quickly in the third set to take a 4-1 lead about the time El Sayed tied the match 3-3. After losing the next two games, she called a serve out and was overruled for the fourth time, the penalty resulting in a "default" result of her match and thus ended the day for the Buffs.
The officials were unwilling to comment on the record but explained the new rule the Intercollegiate Tennis Association instituted this season following the match. After two incorrect line calls deemed by the official, the player will be penalized a point; after the third infraction, the penalty will be a game, and the fourth infraction will result in a default and the match awarded to the other team.
A clear unintended consequence of a new rule instituted this season overshadowed what would have been a great start to the conference season for the Buffaloes. After another successful day in doubles to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead, the Cyclones tied it up early in singles and, up early in five of the six singles matches, looked like there was potential for a quick match.
Iowa State won the first set in four of the six matches and led 5-1 before Tokac made her comeback. Three of the four matches forced a third set, beginning with Rixt van der Werff, who tied the match at 2-2 after her singles win.
Following another win by the Cyclones, El Sayed tied the match at three after dominating the third set before the default ended the match and setup Tokac to complete the Buffaloes comeback that wasn't to be.
"Congrats to Iowa State," head coach Anthony Pham said. "We talked to our team about how every match in the Big 12 will be a battle and today was no different. Obviously, it's tough to come out on the losing end of it, but we put ourselves in the right position to succeed. It was unfortunate for it to end the way it did, but I know what this team is about, and I know we're going to be resilient and respond on Sunday against Kansas."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Overlooking a beautiful scene in Boulder, El Sayed and Pia Rebec started the afternoon with a 6-3 victory at No. 1 doubles over Anna Supapitch Kuearum and Cristina Ramos Sierra.
Iowa State earned its first win at No. 2 doubles 6-1 courtesy of Julia Camblor and Mari Paz Alberto Vilar against Anya Nelson and Van der Werff.
The doubles point came down to the No. 3 position between Lera Alexin and Mila Stanojevic across from Suzanie Pretorius and Valeska San Martin Ramirez. Tied at four, the Buff duo claimed the following two games to take a 1-0 lead early.
The Cyclones scored their first point of the day at No. 6 as the action moved to singles. Ramirez controlled the first set, winning 6-2 over Alexin. In the second Alexin pushed it to the brink but fell 6-4.
As one of the four who lost the first set, Van der Werff was the initial Buff to swing the momentum at No. 4 singles. Ramos Sierra won the first set 6-3, but from then on, it was all Van der Werff. She outscored her 12-3 in the last two sets to retake the lead 2-1.
In the match at No. 5 singles, Rebec battled back against Pretorius. After losing the first set 6-2, she flipped the script, winning the second 6-2 in her favor. Rebec ran out of steam in the final set, losing 6-0.
At the top of the order, Stanojevic faced off against No. 81 Kuearum and took a little time to get into the match. After losing the first set 6-0, Stanojevic forced a third with a 6-4 second set win. In the final set, Kuearum came out fast and won 6-2, giving Iowa State a 3-2 lead.
El Sayed was the only Buff to come out fast in singles, winning the first set 7-5 after taking an early lead. She looked to end the match quickly against Camblor at No. 2 singles but found herself down 6-5. El Sayed forced a second set tiebreaker but could not clinch the set, losing 7-6 (4). El Sayed did not mess around in the final set, winning 6-1 to tie the match at three.
"Overall, we lost four first sets, and in all those matches we brought in that second set," Pham said. "We forced a third set on three of them. It was good to see both Aya and Rixt play some really good tennis."
Even with all the theatrics that ended the match, the initial comeback by Tokac made every second interesting. She was down 5-1 in the first set to Alberto Vilar at No. 3 singles. Tokac responded, winning four straight and five of the next six games to force a tiebreaker. There she was down again, this time 5-3, and responded by rattling off four straight points to take the first set. During the first set, Tokac had her first line call overturned by the referee.
In the second set, Tokac tied at five games with a deuce point in coming. After having a second call overturned, giving Alberto Vilar a point earlier in the set, another was overturned on the deuce point, resulting in a game being awarded to Iowa State and, in turn, the second set. In the third and final set, with a 4-3 lead, Tokac was overturned a fourth time, resulting in a default, ending the match.
UP NEXT
The Buffs will return to the CU South Tennis Courts on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. to take on No. 42 Kansas.
RESULTS
No. 72 Colorado 3, No. 54 Iowa State 4
February 28, 2025
CU South Tennis Courts, Boulder, Colo.
Doubles
- Aya El Sayed/Pia Rebec (CU) def. Anna Supapitch Kuearum/Cristina Ramos Sierra (ISU) 6-3
- Julia Camblor/ Mari Paz Alberto Vilar (ISU) def. Anya Nelson/Rixt van der Werff (CU) 6-1
- Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Suzanie Pretorius/Valeska San Martin Ramirez (ISU) 6-4
Singles
- No. 81 Anna Supapitch Kuearum (ISU) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-0, 4-6, 6-2
- Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Julia Camblor (ISU) 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-1
- Mari Paz Alberto Vilar (ISU) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 6-7 (5), 7-5, 3-4, default
- Rixt van der Werff (CU) def. Cristina Ramos Sierra (ISU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
- Suzanie Pretorius (ISU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 6-2, 2-6, 6-0
- Valeska San Martin Ramirez (ISU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-2, 6-4
NOTES
Mila Stanojevic recorded her 59th career doubles win at Colorado, tied for the 16th most in school history. She also now has 121 total wins, both doubles and singles, ranking No. 21 in CU history.
Aya El Sayed won her 50th singles match, becoming the 39th in CU history. She joined her teammates Mila Stanojevic and Betina Tokac.
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2,3
#1 Singles Match
123
A Supapitch Kuearum / 0 [ISU]
646
062
#2 Singles Match
123
Julia Camblor / 0 [ISU]
571
766
#3 Singles Match
123
Mari Alberto Vilar / 0 [ISU]
676
754
#4 Singles Match
123
Cristi Ramos Sierra / 0 [ISU]
621
366
#5 Singles Match
123
Suzanie Pretorius / 0 [ISU]
626
260
#6 Singles Match
12
Gabriela Felix / 0 [ISU]
66
24
Order of Finish:
6,4,5,1,2,3
Players Mentioned
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