Sunday, March 23
Boulder, Colo.
2 p.m.
Colorado
4
vs
1
Houston
Buffs Snap Losing Streak, Take Down Houston at Home
March 23, 2025 | Tennis
BOULDER – Colorado picked up wins at the top three singles positions and got the doubles point to defeat Houston 4-1 and end an eight-match losing streak Sunday afternoon at the Meadows Club. The win is the first Big 12 regular season victory in almost 15 years, with the Buffaloes spending much of that time in the Pac-12 conference.
After a string of heartbreaking losses, Colorado (7-9, 1-7 Big 12) ended its losing streak with a doubles win from Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo and singles victories from Mila Stanojevic, Betina Tokac and Bubalo, sweeping the top half of the order.
"I'm happy for the team, I'm happy for our kids," head coach Anthony Pham said. "We've lost some tough ones, and they've done a good job of continuing to compete every time we go out and play. It's good for them to get on the other side of these matches."
Houston only played two doubles teams, so the Buffs only needed one match to take an early lead. That win was found by No. 45-ranked Bubalo and Nelson, winning their first match together since February 8 against New Mexico.
This is the 28th win as a doubles pair, the 10th most in program history.
When the action shifted to singles, the Buffs controlled the top of the order. Bubalo was first to finish with Tokac shortly after to open up a 3-0 lead. Stanojevic ran off six straight games in the third set to clinch the match at the top spot.
"I knew she would be a good player, and the match wouldn't be easy," Stanojevic commented on her match. "In the Big 12, you only have good opponents at one [No. 1 singles] you have to play well. I think I started out the match pretty well, whereas in the past weeks, I've started slow, losing the first set here and there, and then today, I was happy that I started off better. In the second set, I didn't take some of the chances that I had, but then in the third set, I was happy with how I turned it around."
With her singles win, Stanojevic now has the 23rd most singles wins at Colorado with 66 and 17th in total wins with 128.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado only needed to win one match in doubles after Houston had to forfeit at No. 3 doubles, giving Pia Rebec and Tokac a win.
Of the matches played, No. 45-ranked Bubalo and Nelson quickly took the lead over Gabriela Cortes and Sophie Schouten. Colorado's pairing maintained the lead and cruised to a 6-3 win, clinching the doubles point for the Buffs.
After the doubles point was clinched, Lera Alexin and Stanojevic's match at No. 2 doubles was left unfinished against Iva Sepa and Santa Stombacha. After being down 5-2, Alexin and Stanojevic were making a comeback, winning back-to-back games, trailing 5-4 when the point was clinched.
Bubalo was the first to get a win in singles, cruising through Heta Nuutinen at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-3 to extend the lead to 2-0 for Colorado.
Shortly after Bubalo added a win, Tokac finished one of her own. Across the court from Sepa, Tokac ended a seven-match losing streak in singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Houston won its only match of the day at No. 4 singles. Valeriia Krokhotina took down Rebec in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, closing the gap to 3-1.
With the opportunity to clinch the match, Stanojevic did not disappoint. Against Stombacha at No. 1 singles, Stanojevic controlled the first set, winning 6-3. In the following set, Stombacha adjusted and forced a third set with a 6-3 win of her own. With the match on the line, Stanojevic closed it out with a 6-0 victory.
"This year has been completely new for us, being in the Big 12, we've had to adjust in a lot of ways," Stanojevic said. 'We've had so many tough losses over the past weeks and getting a win hopefully can give us some momentum going into next weekend against Texas Tech."
UP NEXT
Colorado will stay home next week against Texas Tech at the Meadows Club on Saturday, March 29, at 4:00 p.m., beginning with doubles.
RESULTS
Colorado 4, Houston 1
March 23, 2025
Boulder, Colo. (Meadows Club)
Doubles
Singles
NOTES
Colorado won its first Big 12 regular season match win since April 11, 2010, against Kansas.
Mila Stanojevic now has the 23rd most singles wins at Colorado, with 66, and the 17th most total wins, with 128.
Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson won their 28th doubles match together, the tenth most in CU history. They are also tied for 11th most in a season with 17 match wins.
After a string of heartbreaking losses, Colorado (7-9, 1-7 Big 12) ended its losing streak with a doubles win from Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo and singles victories from Mila Stanojevic, Betina Tokac and Bubalo, sweeping the top half of the order.
"I'm happy for the team, I'm happy for our kids," head coach Anthony Pham said. "We've lost some tough ones, and they've done a good job of continuing to compete every time we go out and play. It's good for them to get on the other side of these matches."
Houston only played two doubles teams, so the Buffs only needed one match to take an early lead. That win was found by No. 45-ranked Bubalo and Nelson, winning their first match together since February 8 against New Mexico.
This is the 28th win as a doubles pair, the 10th most in program history.
When the action shifted to singles, the Buffs controlled the top of the order. Bubalo was first to finish with Tokac shortly after to open up a 3-0 lead. Stanojevic ran off six straight games in the third set to clinch the match at the top spot.
"I knew she would be a good player, and the match wouldn't be easy," Stanojevic commented on her match. "In the Big 12, you only have good opponents at one [No. 1 singles] you have to play well. I think I started out the match pretty well, whereas in the past weeks, I've started slow, losing the first set here and there, and then today, I was happy that I started off better. In the second set, I didn't take some of the chances that I had, but then in the third set, I was happy with how I turned it around."
With her singles win, Stanojevic now has the 23rd most singles wins at Colorado with 66 and 17th in total wins with 128.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado only needed to win one match in doubles after Houston had to forfeit at No. 3 doubles, giving Pia Rebec and Tokac a win.
Of the matches played, No. 45-ranked Bubalo and Nelson quickly took the lead over Gabriela Cortes and Sophie Schouten. Colorado's pairing maintained the lead and cruised to a 6-3 win, clinching the doubles point for the Buffs.
After the doubles point was clinched, Lera Alexin and Stanojevic's match at No. 2 doubles was left unfinished against Iva Sepa and Santa Stombacha. After being down 5-2, Alexin and Stanojevic were making a comeback, winning back-to-back games, trailing 5-4 when the point was clinched.
Bubalo was the first to get a win in singles, cruising through Heta Nuutinen at No. 3 singles 6-3, 6-3 to extend the lead to 2-0 for Colorado.
Shortly after Bubalo added a win, Tokac finished one of her own. Across the court from Sepa, Tokac ended a seven-match losing streak in singles with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Houston won its only match of the day at No. 4 singles. Valeriia Krokhotina took down Rebec in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, closing the gap to 3-1.
With the opportunity to clinch the match, Stanojevic did not disappoint. Against Stombacha at No. 1 singles, Stanojevic controlled the first set, winning 6-3. In the following set, Stombacha adjusted and forced a third set with a 6-3 win of her own. With the match on the line, Stanojevic closed it out with a 6-0 victory.
"This year has been completely new for us, being in the Big 12, we've had to adjust in a lot of ways," Stanojevic said. 'We've had so many tough losses over the past weeks and getting a win hopefully can give us some momentum going into next weekend against Texas Tech."
UP NEXT
Colorado will stay home next week against Texas Tech at the Meadows Club on Saturday, March 29, at 4:00 p.m., beginning with doubles.
RESULTS
Colorado 4, Houston 1
March 23, 2025
Boulder, Colo. (Meadows Club)
Doubles
- No. 45 Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU) def. Gabriela Cortes/Sophie Schouten (HOU) 6-3
- Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) vs. Iva Sepa/Santa Stombacha (HOU) 4-5, unf.
- Pia Rebec/Betina Tokac (CU) def. Team (HOU), Forfeit
Singles
- Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Santa Stombacha (HOU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-0
- Betina Tokac (CU) def. Iva Sepa (HOU) 6-2, 6-1
- Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Heta Nuutinen (HOU) 6-3, 6-3
- Valeriia Krokhotina (HOU) def. Pia Rebec (CU) 6-3, 6-4
- Lera Alexin (CU) vs. Sophie Schouten (HOU) 6-4, 1-6, 3-3, unf.
- Anya Nelson (CU) vs. Gabriela Cortes (HOU) 3-3, unf.
NOTES
Colorado won its first Big 12 regular season match win since April 11, 2010, against Kansas.
Mila Stanojevic now has the 23rd most singles wins at Colorado, with 66, and the 17th most total wins, with 128.
Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson won their 28th doubles match together, the tenth most in CU history. They are also tied for 11th most in a season with 17 match wins.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,1
#1 Singles Match
123
Santa Strombacha / 0 [HOU]
360
636
#2 Singles Match
12
Iva Sepa / 0 [HOU]
21
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Heta Nuutinen / 0 [HOU]
33
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Valeriia Krokhotina / 0 [HOU]
66
34
#5 Singles Match
123
Sophie Schouten / 0 [HOU]
463
613
#6 Singles Match
1
Gabriela Cortes / 0 [HOU]
3
3
Order of Finish:
3,2,4,1
Players Mentioned
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