Buffs Rock the Rebels

Friday, February 20

Las Vegas, NV

11 a.m.

Colorado

UNLV

February 20, 2026 | Tennis

Box Score Donate to Tennis

Colorado clinches the first weekend match up 4-3, against UNLV.

By: Teagan Schreiber, Athletic Communications Student Assistant

LAS VEGAS – The Colorado Buffaloes tennis team starts the weekend off strong against UNLV, clinching a 4-3 match despite falling in doubles play.

"Really gutsy performance by our Buffs today," head coach Anthony Pham said. "UNLV is very good and proud of our team for finding a way to get the job done today. Big shout out to our trainer Kirsten [Martinez] for the work she does for us and keeping us healthy."

Following a tough doubles draw, the Buffs (6-2) came back in strong fashion with four singles wins to claim a victory over the Rebels (3-2).

With two quick straight set wins to start, the Buffs tied it up 2-2, then finished the job securing the win within minutes of each other at No. 5 and 6.

"Our group continues to take positive steps forward and we look forward to another challenging day of matches tomorrow," said Pham.

HOW IT HAPPENED
To begin doubles competition, Aya El Sayed and Pia Rebec fell short at the top spot to Hudson Hawkins and Nikol Mircheva, 6-2.

UNLV secured the doubles point at No. 3 with a win by Kaho Oyama and Sofiia Sokolvak over Anya Nelson and Lani Brotman, 6-3.

After the doubles point was secured, No. 2 doubles was left unfinished tied 5-5 between Lera Alexin and Rixt van der Werff for the Buffs and Eszter Kis-Czako and Veronika Kliuch for the Rebels.

The Buffs wasted no time finding victories in singles play. Rebec captured the first win at No. 3 for the Buffs, tying the team score 1-1, downing Hawkins in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.

Lani Brotman followed at No. 4 to find Colorado a lead. Brotman downed Kis-Czako in matching 6-4 sets, taking the team score to 2-1.

The Rebels brought it back to a tie at No. 2 with Mircheva finding a win over Van der Werff, 6-1, 6-3.

With the match tied 2-2, Nelson secured a win at No. 6 over Adi Bitton to give Colorado the lead in a straight set win. Nelson found a win in the second-set tiebreaker, bringing the set to 6-6 and finishing the job, 9-7.

At the top spot, El Sayed fought to a third set against Kliuch, after capturing the second, 6-4. Kliuch took the third set, 6-4, making it a tie match once again, 3-3.

Within seconds of El Sayed's loss, Alexin found her third clinch of the season for the Buffs at No. 5, downing Oyama in the third set. Alexin took the first set, 6-4, but fell short in the second, 6-3. Leading the entire third set, Alexin topped it off, 6-2, to secure the Buff win.

UP NEXT
The Buffs stay in Las Vegas for two more matches on Saturday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex. Colorado will face Gonzaga at 11 a.m. (MT), followed by Utah Tech at 3 p.m. More information and live results can be found @cubuffstennis.

RESULTS
Doubles

Hudson Hawkins/NikolMircheva (UNLV) def. Aya El Sayed/Pia Rebec (CU), 6-2
Rixt van der Werff/Lera Alexin (CU) vs Veronika Kliuch/Eszter Kis-Czako (UNLV), 5-5, unf.
Kaho Oyama/Sofiia Sokolvak (UNLV) def. Anya Nelson/Lani Brotman (CU), 6-3

Order of finish: 1, 3

Singles

Veronika Kliuch (UNLV) def. Aya El Sayed (CU), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
Nikol Mircheva (UNLV) def. Rixt van der Werff (CU), 6-1, 6-3
Pia Rebec (CU) def. Hudson Hawkins (UNLV), 6-4, 6-3
Lani Brotman (CU) def. Eszter Kis-Czako (UNLV), 6-4, 6-4
Lera Alexin (CU) def. Kaho Oyama (UNLV), 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Anya Nelson (CU) def. Adi Bitton (UNLV), 6-4, 7-6 (9-7)

Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5

NOTES

Colorado breaks the tie in its series against UNLV, now leading 7-6 in the all-time record.
The Buffs now hold a three-match win streak.
Alexin clinches her third match of the season for the Buffs, securing her 25^th career singles victory.
Brotman secured her 10^th career singles victory, now holding a 10-5 record.
With her win at No. 3, Rebec now holds 75 total career singles and doubles victories.