Colorado Falls to No. 30 Arizona

BOULDER – Colorado dropped its first match of the final weekend of the regular season Friday at the CU South Tennis Courts as the Buffaloes fell to No. 30 Arizona 4-0.

The Buffs drop to 8-12 on the season and 2-10 in Big 12 play. Colorado is 4-6 in Boulder this season.

"I thought we came out really flat in doubles, and Arizona made us pay for it as they should have," head coach Anthony Pham said. "But to the teams of credit, they did a good job of responding in singles. Arizona is a good team, and we have to do a better job of making sure there is better energy on Sunday against Arizona State in doubles."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Colorado got off to a slow start in doubles with Mila Stanojevic and Lera Alexin, losing 6-2 to Josie Usereau and Stephanie Shogreen at No. 2 doubles.

The No. 3 doubles match ended soon after, with Arizona's Belen Nevenhozen and Zoya Chulak winning 6-3 over the Buffaloes' Betina Tokac and Pia Rebec, putting the Wildcats up 1-0.

Anya Nelson and Ema Bubalo's No. 1 doubles match was abandoned with the Buffaloes down 5-2 to Martyna Ostrzygalo and Midori Castillo.

Bubalo dropped her first set at No. 3 singles against Ostrzygalo 6-1. Bubalo responded, starting the second set with a 3-2 lead. Ostrzygalo won four straight games to win the second set 6-3.

At the top spot, Stanojevic jumped out to a 3-2 lead over Usereau but lost the next four games to lose the first set 6-3. The second set looked very similar; Stanojevic took a 3-2 lead before Usereau took four of the final games to win the set 6-4 and give the Wildcats 6-4.

Alexin stayed close early in the first set, with the score never going more than a game either way. With the set tied 4-4, Teja Tirunelveli took the final two games to win the first set 6-4. Tirunelveli carried the momentum forward, winning the second set 6-2 to clinch the match for Arizona.

Tokac won the only set of the day for Colorado at No. 2 singles against Castillo 6-3 in the first. Tokac was trailing 4-5 in the second set when the match was clinched.

At the conclusion of the match, No. 5 singles between Rebec and Tanvi Narendran had just completed the first set. Rebec took a quick 3-0 lead before Narendran responded by forcing a first set tiebreaker. Narendran controlled the points in the tiebreaker, winning the first set 7-6 (3).

Nelson faced off against Shogreen at No. 6 singles and took a 5-2 lead early in the first set. Like other matches today, Shogreen responded for Arizona, forcing a tiebreaker and winning 7-6 (3). Nelson took the first two games in the second set before the match was completed.

UP NEXT
Colorado will finish the regular season on Sunday against No. 33 Arizona State. Before the match, we will honor our three athletes in a Senior Day Ceremony. The ceremony will begin at 11:40 a.m. for Aya El Sayed, Mila Stanojevic, and Betina Tokac. The match will follow, starting at Noon.

RESULTS
No. 30 Arizona 4, Colorado 0
April 11, 2025
Boulder, Colo. (CU South Tennis Courts)

Doubles

Anya Nelson/Ema Bubalo (CU) vs. No. 65 Midori Castillo/Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARI) 2-5, unf.
Stephanie Shogreen/Josie Usereau (ARI) def. Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-2
Zoya Chulak/Belen Nevenhoven (ARI) def. Pia Rebec/Betina Tokac (CU) 6-3

Order of Finish: (2,3*)

Singles

Josie Usereau (ARI) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-3, 6-4
Betina Tokac (CU) vs. Midori Castillo (ARI) 6-3, 4-5, unf.
Martyna Ostrzygalo (ARI) def. Ema Bubalo (CU) 6-1, 6-3
Pia Rebec (CU) vs. Tanvi Narendran (ARI) 6-7 (3), unf.
Teja Tirunelveli (ARI) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-4, 6-2
Anya Nelson (CU) vs. Stephanie Shogreen (ARI) 6-7 (3), 2-0, unf.

Order of Finish: (3, 1, 5*)

Next Event

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lera Alexin

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac