Alexin, Bubalo Win Doubles Regional Championship

Saturday, October 17

Provo, Utah

Colorado

Day 5

October 17, 2026 | Tennis

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Duo Will Represent Buffs at NCAA Individual Championships in November

By: Jessica Maestas, Lead Athletic Communications Student Assistant & Curtis Snyder, Associate AD/Athletic Communications

PROVO, Utah - Concluding a competitive five days of tournament play, Colorado's Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo won a regional championship for the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team Saturday at BYU's outdoor courts.

With a massive win Saturday, the duo secured not only the Mountain Regional doubles championship in a tiebreak second set against UNLV, but also earned an automatic qualifying spot for the NCAA Championships in November.

"They're excited," CU coach Anthony Pham said. "I'm proud of them and happy for them. They've had a very good fall together. We pride ourselves on our doubles play, and it's good to see the time and effort we're putting in, getting good results from that hard work."

The Colorado duo secured just the third Mountain Regional doubles title in Colorado program history and the fourth regional title overall since the Buffs joined the Mountain Region in 2009.

Bubalo becomes the first Buff to claim two Mountain Regional doubles championships, having previously won alongside Anya Nelson in 2024. Previously, Juliette Stuer and Kaja Wojck won the doubles title in 2014 and Nuria Ormeno-Ruiz took home the singles title in 2015. Bubalo also now has a 13-1 record in doubles play at the Mountain Regional Championships.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Alexin and Bubalo came out hot in the first set, taking an early 5-2 lead and holding on for a 6-3 victory on a nice Alexin forehand winner.

The second set seemed to be more of the same, as the Buffs took a 5-1 lead and at deuce in that seventh game, had the first chance for championship point. UNLV took that point, and the next five games, taking a 6-5 lead before the Buffs were able to stop the Rebels' momentum.

"Today was a tough match, I think it was a tale of two different matches," Pham said. "We were up 6-3, felt like we were in control. UNLV raised their levels and really battled. But credit to Ema and Lera, they buckled down and were able to right the ship and close the match out in straight sets."

The Buffs did have two more championship points when they were up 40-30 with the score 5-4, but UNLV staved off both of those attempts, as well.

CU won the next set, only surrendering one point, to tie the match at 6-6 and force a second-set tiebreaker. That tiebreaker was tied seven times, at every single point, with the Buffs holding a point advantage all but one time at 5-4.

The Buffs rattled off two straight to take a 6-5 lead and fourth chance at a championship point. But it went even and then with an 8-7 advantage, championship point No. 6, UNLV double faulted, the only double fault by either team in the entire match, and CU took the tiebreaker, 9-7.

UP NEXT
The Buffs will remain in the area next weekend with the Colorado Cup, hosted by the University of Denver at the Denver Tennis Center Oct. 23-25.

"We made some strides this week, but there's a lot of work to get where we want to get," Pham said. "Every match we play this fall is important in our journey and we're looking forward to going to Denver and getting some good work in."

RESULTS

Doubles Championship Match
Lera Alexin/Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Hudson Hawkins/Nicole Mircheva (UNLV), 6-4, 7-6 (7)