Colorado Fall Schedule Set

BOULDER - The Colorado Buffaloes tennis team is gearing up to begin its fall competition this September, featuring tournaments with a successful history for the Buffs, as well as new challenges.

Colorado enters the fifth season under head coach Anthony Pham, with three newcomers and six returning players. Seniors Anya Nelson and Rixt van der Werff lead the way, followed by a talented and deep group including Lera Alexin, Ema Bubalo, Willow Gretsch, and Pia Rebec. Newcomers Lani Brotman, Heidi Crncan, and Yukiko Ikedo enter the lineup as true freshmen.

The Buffs begin their season by heading back to the Battle in the Bay Classic, hosted by the University of San Francisco. This is the fifth consecutive year that the team has participated in this tournament, and the seventh year overall. Last year, Colorado finished with one doubles duo reaching the consolation finals with two victories.

Following Battle in the Bay, the Buffs will take a short trip to Colorado Springs for the Bedford Cup. In 2021, six athletes represented Colorado for the first time at the tournament, with one freshman, recently graduated Betina Tokac, standing and making her mark on the way to the semifinals.

The fall will also be loaded with competition through the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, including the All-American and Mountain Region Championships, Conference Masters, and Fall Sectionals, all of which hopefully leads to a spot at the NCAA Individual Championships, which was moved to the fall competition season in 2024.

Two more opportunities will be intertwined through the ITA competition from October to November, reaching from Denver all the way to Bonita Bay, Florida. The in-state Pioneers will host a Hidden Dual event at the end of October. The dual will be heeded by the Bonita Bay Classic the following week, a tournament the Buffs have yet to participate in.

Along with the fall competition, Colorado will hold room for the 2025 ITF Women's World Tennis tour, a professional tour a tier below the Challenger Series of the Women's Tennis Association. The tour holds 500 tournaments across 65 countries, including the ITF 35k and the ITF 15k in California, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, of which the Buffs could participate.

Players Mentioned

Lera Alexin

Lani Brotman

Ema Bubalo

Heidi Crncan

Willow Gretsch

Yukiko Ikedo

Anya Nelson

Pia Rebec

Betina Tokac

Rixt van der Werff

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