Buffs Handle Business in Morgantown

MORGANTOWN, W.V. – Colorado closed out the conference road slate with a 4-1 victory over West Virginia behind Mila Stanojevic's 20th singles win of the season Sunday morning at the Summit Tennis Academy.

Colorado (8-11, 2-9 Big 12), in its first match against new conference foe West Virginia (7-16, 1-11), controlled the match after winning the doubles point on the road for the first time in almost a month. This marked the first road Big 12 victory since defeating No. 68 Missouri in 2009 after spending most of the time since in the Pac-12 conference.

"Winning on the road in the Big 12 is not easy, and this was a complete team effort," head coach Anthony Pham said. "I am really proud of our group for the way they competed across the board. We've dealt with a ton of adversity as a group this spring, and no matter what hand we've been dealt, we continue to tackle it head-on. We will continue to put our best foot forward and fight and compete."

In doubles, Colorado saw two ends of the spectrum in each win. The first, by Pia Rebec and Betina Tokac, was the first completed match for them. They had led at the conclusion of all three matches they had competed in over the last month, but this was the first that was completed, which earned their first finished victory as a pair.

On the flip side, the pair that clinched the doubles point was 56th-ranked Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson, who won their 29th match together at Colorado, tying for the 9th most in program history.

Individually, Bubalo has recorded her 23rd doubles win of the season, tying her for 3rd in program history, and Nelson is one win behind with 22, tying her for 7th.

Mila Stanojevic got the action going in singles, winning in straight sets, which also continues to move her up the all-time ranks at Colorado. The win was her 20th of the season, the second time with at least 20 in a season. That also gives her 67 singles wins in her career, moving her up to 22nd in program history. With her doubles win on Friday, Stanojevic has 129 combined wins, moving her up to 15th at Colorado.

Tokac and Rebec, who started the morning with their doubles win, closed out the day, each winning in singles to clinch the match for Colorado.

HOW IT HAPPENED
West Virginia earned the first win of the morning at No. 2 doubles behind a 6-2 victory from Michaela Kucharova and Laura Morillo over Lera Alexin and Stanojevic.

Rebec and Tokac got the Buffs going with their second win of the season, the first in a completed match against Tatiana Lipatova and Sussanah Su 6-3 at No. 3 doubles.

Colorado needed one more for the doubles point and got it from the top spot. Bubalo and Nelson won the final three games after trailing 4-3 to Julie Bousseau and Mille Haagensen to win and clinch the doubles point 6-4.

Stanojevic earned another win at No. 1 singles, this time against Bousseau. After trailing 3-2 in the first set, she ran off four straight games to win the first set 6-3. In the second set, Stanojevic again found herself trailing 3-2, and this time, she outscored Bousseau 5-2 to clinch the first singles match and give the Buffs a 2-0 lead.

The Mountaineers scored their lone point of the day at No. 3 singles. Kucharova won the first set against Bubalo 6-2. Needing to force a third set, Bubalo came out fast and rode that to a 7-5 second set win. The final set went back in favor of West Virginia like the first, 6-2.

Colorado extended the lead at No. 2 singles after a tight straight-set victory by Tokac. In the first set, after jumping out to a 4-2 lead against Haagensen, Tokac found herself down 6-5. One game and a convincing tiebreaker later, Tokac won the first set 7-6 (3). Just like the opening set, the second was tight the whole way through. With the score tied at five games apiece, Tokac ended the match with two straight games, winning 7-5 and taking a 3-1 lead.

After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker 7-6 (5) to Lyla Byers, Rebec responded, outscoring her opponent 12-3 in the final two sets. That included a 6-0 third set win to clinch a 4-1 victory for the Buffs.

With only four courts available, Alexin and Nelson had just started their matches, which were still in the first set, when the victory was clinched.

UP NEXT
Colorado will return home and finish the regular season against Arizona and Arizona State. The Buffs will start against the Wildcats on Friday, April 11, and conclude with Senior Day against the Sun Devils on Sunday, April 13, where we will celebrate the careers of our seniors: Aya El Sayed, Mila Stanojevic, and Betina Tokac.

RESULTS
Colorado 4, West Virginia 1
April 6, 2025
Morgantown, W.V. (Summit Tennis Academy)

Doubles

#56 Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU) def. Julie Bousseau/Mille Haagensen (WVU) 6-4
Michaela Kucharova/Laura Morillo (WVU) def. Lera Alexin/Mila Stanojevic (CU) 6-2
Pia Rebec/Betina Tokac (CU) def. Tatiana Lipatova/Sussanah Su (WVU) 6-3

Order of Finish: (2,3,1*)

Singles

Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Julie Bosseau (WVU) 6-3, 7-5
Betina Tokac (CU) def. Mille Haagensen (WVU) 7-6 (3), 7-5
Michaela Kucharova (WVU) def. Ema Bubalo (CU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-2
Pia Rebec (CU) def. Lyla Byers (WVU) 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0
Lera Alexin (CU) vs. Maja Dodik (WVU) 5-3, unf.
Anya Nelson (CU) vs. Laura Morillo (WVU) 0-3, unf.

Order of Finish: (1,3,2,4*)

NOTES

Colorado now holds a 1-0 record against West Virginia.
This marked the first road Big 12 win since defeating No. 68 Missouri on April 11, 2008.
Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson won their 29^th career doubles match and the 18^th this season. 29 wins is tied for the 9^th most in program history, and 18 this season is tied for the 7^th most.
Ema Bubalo won her 23^rd doubles match this season, tying her for the 3^rd most in a single season in CU history.
Anya Nelson won her 22^nd doubles match this season, tying her for the 7^th most in a single season in CU history.
Mila Stanojevic won her 20^th singles match of the season, the second time in her career with at least 20 singles wins. The victory was the 67^th of her career, and she is now tied for 22^nd at CU. With her doubles win on Friday, Stanojevic has 129 combined wins, moving her up to 15th at Colorado.

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Lera Alexin

Ema Bubalo

Aya El Sayed

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Mila Stanojevic

Betina Tokac