Buffs Fall to No. 44 TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas – Colorado wrapped up its five-match road trip against No. 44 TCU Sunday afternoon at the Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center, falling 4-0.

Without Ema Bubalo and Aya El Sayed, Colorado (6-8, 0-6 Big 12) could not finish off matches against No. 44 TCU (10-4, 5-1 Big 12).

"Being down two starters today was obviously tough, but I am very proud of our team for the way they continue to compete and fight for each other against a strong TCU team," head coach Anthony Pham said. "The match once again came down to a handful of points. We will continue to control what we can control and fight through whatever adversity comes our way."

With different players in the lineup, this was the ninth doubles pairing used this season. The newest was Pia Rebec and Betina Tokac, who played No. 3 doubles. This was their first match together at Colorado.

When the action switched to singles, Colorado won the first set at five of six spots and claimed a set at all six positions.

HOW IT HAPPENED
TCU earned its first doubles win behind a 6-1 effort from Helena Narmont and Yu-Chin Tsai over Lera Alexin and Mila Stanojevic at No. 2 doubles.

At the top spot, Anya Nelson and Rixt van der Werff took the court against the 23rd-ranked pair Jade Otway and Isabel Pascual. After falling down early, Nelson and Van der Werff battled back but weren't able to get over the hump falling 6-4.

Pia Rebec and Betina Tokac were working towards a win in their first match together, leading 6-5 at No. 3 doubles against Raquel Caballero and Tomi Main before the doubles point was clinched, leaving this match unfinished.

Moving to singles, after a tough first set against Otway, Stanojevic ran through the second set, winning 6-0, forcing a third set. Unfortunately, the final set looked like the first, giving Otway a 6-3, 0-6, 6-1 victory and a 2-0 lead for TCU.

At No. 3 singles, Tokac took the first set 6-4 against Pascual but couldn't keep the momentum going the rest of the match. Pascual won the second and third sets 6-0, 6-3 to clinch her match and give the Horn Frogs a 3-0 lead.

Rebec won the first set of the match at No. 4 singles 6-4 against Tsai but lost the next two, 6-3 and 6-2. TCU clinched the match, winning 4-0.

The remaining three matches were left unfinished after the overall match was clinched. Van der Werff at No. 2 singles was in the third set against Caballero after winning the first set 6-4 and narrowly dropping the second set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (4).

Alexin was in her second tiebreaker of the day against Main after winning the first 7-6 (2). She was trailing 6-2 in the second set tiebreaker.

In just her second singles match of the spring, Nelson was battling in the third set against Drozd. She won the first set 6-4 and lost the second set 6-2. In the final set Nelson trailed 5-4 when the match was clinched.

UP NEXT
Colorado will return to Boulder next week and take the court against UCF on Friday, March 21, and Houston on Sunday, March 23.

RESULTS
No. 44 TCU 4, Colorado 0
March 16, 2025
Fort Worth, Texas (Bayard H. Friedman Tennis Center)

Doubles

No. 23 Jade Otway/Isabel Pascual (TCU) def. Anya Nelson/Rixt van der Werff (CU) 6-4
Helena Narmont/Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU) def. Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-1
Pia Rebec/Betina Tokac (CU) vs. Raquel Caballero/Tomi Main (TCU) 6-5, unf.

Order of Finish: (2,1*)

Singles

Jade Otway (TCU) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-3, 0-6, 6-1
Rixt van der Werff (CU) vs. Raquel Caballero (TCU) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 2-5, unf.
Isabel Pascual (TCU) def. Betina Tokac (CU) 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
Yu-Chin Tsai (TCU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Lera Alexin (CU) vs. Tomi Main (TCU), 7-6 (2), 6-6 (2-6), unf.
Anya Nelson (CU) vs. Maya Drozd (TCU) 6-4, 2-6, 4-5, unf.

Order of Finish: (1,3,4*)

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lera Alexin

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac

Rixt van der Werff