Thursday, October 15
Provo, Utah
Colorado
vs
Day 3
Two Doubles Teams Advance To Quarterfinals At Regionals
October 15, 2026 | Tennis
PROVO, Utah – Two doubles teams advanced to the quarterfinals and Heidi Crncan remained alive in the main draw singles flight as the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team had a successful third day at the ITA Mountain Region Championships Thursday.
"I thought we did some real positive things today in doubles," CU Head Coach Anthony Pham said. "When we found ourselves in tight moments we were decisive and did a great job playing to our strengths."
Pia Rebec and Louise Ternstroem and Ema Bubalo and Lera Alexin each won twice in doubles action to reach the quarterfinals. In singles, ninth-seeded Crncan won a three-set match and will face top seed Sara Akid of Utah in the Round of 16.
"Heidi is as resilient as they come," assistant coach Erick Garcia said. "She is a great competitor. For the entire team I think that we are playing at a high level, but we must maintain it for the entire match. We need to work on staying focused all the time as the margins are very small at this type of event. Mental mistakes are costly."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles play came first in the morning, followed by singles in the afternoon. Rebec and Ternstroem opened with an 8-0 win over Nevada's Petra Janigova and Nikol Janickovicova, then topped Denver's Paulina Jurkowska and Sofia Mavor 8-3 in the Round of 16.Â
Bubalo and Alexin beat Iowa State's Emmy Richards and Veronika Zarovna 8-3, followed by an 8-5 win over BYU's Sephi Sheng and Allegra van der Walt. Willow Gretsch and Crncan fell 8-6 to New Mexico's Vianca and Vivica Corley in the Round of 32.
In singles, Crncan dropped the opening set to Air Force's Stephanie Marcheret before battling back in the second, overcoming a break to even the score at 4-4. From there, the England native found her rhythm, claiming the next two games to take the set 6-4. Carrying that momentum into the third set, Crncan dominated 6-0 to secure the win for the Buffs and advance to the Round of 16.
Bubalo and Ternstroem both fell in the singles Round of 32, while Yukiko Ikedo and Alexin were each defeated in extra matches.
UP NEXT
Bubalo and Alexin will face Silver Bijlsma and Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia of Wyoming in the doubles quarterfinals, while Rebec and Ternstroem will take on BYU's Cara Korhonen and Sue Yan Tan. Crncan meets Akid in the singles Round of 16.
"We look forward to making some adjustments tomorrow and continuing to control what we can control," Pham said.
RESULTS
Doubles Round of 32
Vianca Corley/Vivica Corley (UNM) def. Willow Gretsch/Heidi Crncan (CU) 8-6
Pia Rebec/Louise Ternstroem (CU) def. Petra Janigova/Nikol Janickovicova (Nevada) 8-0
Ema Bubalo/Lera Alexin (CU) def. Emmy Richards/Veronika Zarovna (ISU) 8-3
Doubles Round of 16
Pia Rebec/Louise Ternstroem (CU) def. Paulina Jurkowska/Sofia Mavor (DU) 8-3
Lera Alexin/Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Sephi Sheng/Allegra van der Walt (BYU) 8-5
Singles Round of 32
Heidi Crncan (CU) def. Stephanie Marcheret (Air Force) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
Allison Isaacs (BSU) def. Ema Bubalo (CU) 6-2, 6-3
Silver Bijlsma (UW) def. Louise Ternstroem (CU) 6-0, 7-5
Singles Extra Matches
Kaho Oyama (UNLV) def. Yukiko Ikedo (CU) 6-2, 6-2
Allegra van der Walt (BYU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (3)
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"I thought we did some real positive things today in doubles," CU Head Coach Anthony Pham said. "When we found ourselves in tight moments we were decisive and did a great job playing to our strengths."
Pia Rebec and Louise Ternstroem and Ema Bubalo and Lera Alexin each won twice in doubles action to reach the quarterfinals. In singles, ninth-seeded Crncan won a three-set match and will face top seed Sara Akid of Utah in the Round of 16.
"Heidi is as resilient as they come," assistant coach Erick Garcia said. "She is a great competitor. For the entire team I think that we are playing at a high level, but we must maintain it for the entire match. We need to work on staying focused all the time as the margins are very small at this type of event. Mental mistakes are costly."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles play came first in the morning, followed by singles in the afternoon. Rebec and Ternstroem opened with an 8-0 win over Nevada's Petra Janigova and Nikol Janickovicova, then topped Denver's Paulina Jurkowska and Sofia Mavor 8-3 in the Round of 16.Â
Bubalo and Alexin beat Iowa State's Emmy Richards and Veronika Zarovna 8-3, followed by an 8-5 win over BYU's Sephi Sheng and Allegra van der Walt. Willow Gretsch and Crncan fell 8-6 to New Mexico's Vianca and Vivica Corley in the Round of 32.
In singles, Crncan dropped the opening set to Air Force's Stephanie Marcheret before battling back in the second, overcoming a break to even the score at 4-4. From there, the England native found her rhythm, claiming the next two games to take the set 6-4. Carrying that momentum into the third set, Crncan dominated 6-0 to secure the win for the Buffs and advance to the Round of 16.
Bubalo and Ternstroem both fell in the singles Round of 32, while Yukiko Ikedo and Alexin were each defeated in extra matches.
UP NEXT
Bubalo and Alexin will face Silver Bijlsma and Anastasiia Kochelaevskaia of Wyoming in the doubles quarterfinals, while Rebec and Ternstroem will take on BYU's Cara Korhonen and Sue Yan Tan. Crncan meets Akid in the singles Round of 16.
"We look forward to making some adjustments tomorrow and continuing to control what we can control," Pham said.
RESULTS
Doubles Round of 32
Vianca Corley/Vivica Corley (UNM) def. Willow Gretsch/Heidi Crncan (CU) 8-6
Pia Rebec/Louise Ternstroem (CU) def. Petra Janigova/Nikol Janickovicova (Nevada) 8-0
Ema Bubalo/Lera Alexin (CU) def. Emmy Richards/Veronika Zarovna (ISU) 8-3
Doubles Round of 16
Pia Rebec/Louise Ternstroem (CU) def. Paulina Jurkowska/Sofia Mavor (DU) 8-3
Lera Alexin/Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Sephi Sheng/Allegra van der Walt (BYU) 8-5
Singles Round of 32
Heidi Crncan (CU) def. Stephanie Marcheret (Air Force) 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
Allison Isaacs (BSU) def. Ema Bubalo (CU) 6-2, 6-3
Silver Bijlsma (UW) def. Louise Ternstroem (CU) 6-0, 7-5
Singles Extra Matches
Kaho Oyama (UNLV) def. Yukiko Ikedo (CU) 6-2, 6-2
Allegra van der Walt (BYU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-0, 4-6, 1-0 (3)
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Players Mentioned
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