Friday, October 2
San Francisco, Calif.
Colorado
vs
Day 2
Buffs Duo Reaches Doubles Semifinals at Battle in the Bay
October 02, 2026 | Tennis
SAN FRANCISCO – Colorado's Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo moved into the doubles semifinals Friday at the Battle in the Bay Classic, edging USC in a tiebreaker on the second day of play at the California Tennis Club.
Alexin and Bubalo followed their opening-round win over Pepperdine's third-seeded team with an 8-7 (6) quarterfinal victory over the Trojans' Simone Kay and Kiara Zabkova. The Buffs duo will play for a spot in Sunday's final.
"Doubles was an up-and-down affair today," CU Head Coach Anthony Pham said. "We created a lot of opportunities early on but weren't able to capitalize. Â To Lera and Ema's credit, they competed hard and trusted themselves when in crucial moments and that ended up being the difference against a touch team from USC."
Bubalo also kept her weekend going in singles. She rallied from a set down to beat Purdue's Nehir Dogan, 1-6, 7-6 (10), 1-0 (8), in the consolation round of 16, winning an extended second-set tiebreaker and a tight match tiebreaker.
Alexin pushed Loyola Marymount's Ada Piestrzynska to a deciding tiebreaker of her own before falling, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (7).Â
"Both singles matches were very tight and I thought we made a lot of good adjustments from yesterday," Pham said. "We look forward to some more opportunities to get better tomorrow."Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles play opened at 10 a.m. local time, with Alexin and Bubalo matched against USC's Kay and Zabkova. The quarterfinal stayed tight deep into the pro set and reached a tiebreaker at 7-7. The Buffaloes took that tiebreaker 8-6 to advance.
In singles, Bubalo fell behind early against Dogan, dropping the first set 6-1. She responded in the second, which went to a tiebreaker that ran past the regulation 10 points. Bubalo took it 12-10 to force a deciding match tiebreaker, then held on to win it 10-8.
Alexin's match followed a similar path. After dropping the first set 6-1 to Piestrzynska, she battled back to take the second set in a 7-5 tiebreaker. That forced a match tiebreaker, which Piestrzynska won 10-7, ending some 12 hours later after 10 p.m. local time.
UP NEXT
Alexin and Bubalo will play in the doubles semifinals Saturday at [TK] a.m. local time. In singles, Bubalo will face Loyola Marymount's Yelyzaveta Chainykova in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday morning. [TK — Alexin's Saturday singles status.]
RESULTS
Doubles
Quarterfinals
Lera Alexin/Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Simone Kay/Kiara Zabkova (USC) 8-7 (6)
Singles
Consolation Round of 16
Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Nehir Dogan (Purdue) 1-6, 7-6 (10), 1-0 (8)
Ada Piestrzynska (LMU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-1, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (7)
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Alexin and Bubalo followed their opening-round win over Pepperdine's third-seeded team with an 8-7 (6) quarterfinal victory over the Trojans' Simone Kay and Kiara Zabkova. The Buffs duo will play for a spot in Sunday's final.
"Doubles was an up-and-down affair today," CU Head Coach Anthony Pham said. "We created a lot of opportunities early on but weren't able to capitalize. Â To Lera and Ema's credit, they competed hard and trusted themselves when in crucial moments and that ended up being the difference against a touch team from USC."
Bubalo also kept her weekend going in singles. She rallied from a set down to beat Purdue's Nehir Dogan, 1-6, 7-6 (10), 1-0 (8), in the consolation round of 16, winning an extended second-set tiebreaker and a tight match tiebreaker.
Alexin pushed Loyola Marymount's Ada Piestrzynska to a deciding tiebreaker of her own before falling, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (7).Â
"Both singles matches were very tight and I thought we made a lot of good adjustments from yesterday," Pham said. "We look forward to some more opportunities to get better tomorrow."Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles play opened at 10 a.m. local time, with Alexin and Bubalo matched against USC's Kay and Zabkova. The quarterfinal stayed tight deep into the pro set and reached a tiebreaker at 7-7. The Buffaloes took that tiebreaker 8-6 to advance.
In singles, Bubalo fell behind early against Dogan, dropping the first set 6-1. She responded in the second, which went to a tiebreaker that ran past the regulation 10 points. Bubalo took it 12-10 to force a deciding match tiebreaker, then held on to win it 10-8.
Alexin's match followed a similar path. After dropping the first set 6-1 to Piestrzynska, she battled back to take the second set in a 7-5 tiebreaker. That forced a match tiebreaker, which Piestrzynska won 10-7, ending some 12 hours later after 10 p.m. local time.
UP NEXT
Alexin and Bubalo will play in the doubles semifinals Saturday at [TK] a.m. local time. In singles, Bubalo will face Loyola Marymount's Yelyzaveta Chainykova in the consolation quarterfinals Saturday morning. [TK — Alexin's Saturday singles status.]
RESULTS
Doubles
Quarterfinals
Lera Alexin/Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Simone Kay/Kiara Zabkova (USC) 8-7 (6)
Singles
Consolation Round of 16
Ema Bubalo (CU) def. Nehir Dogan (Purdue) 1-6, 7-6 (10), 1-0 (8)
Ada Piestrzynska (LMU) def. Lera Alexin (CU) 6-1, 6-7 (5), 1-0 (7)
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Players Mentioned
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