Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Utah
Colorado Drops Close Match to No. 44 Utah
March 21, 2026 | Tennis
BOULDER – The No. 56 Colorado Buffaloes tennis team close out another weekend of competition with a tight loss to No. 44 Utah, 4-2, Saturday afternoon at the Meadows Club.
Colorado now holds a 10-8 overall record and a 2-6 mark in the Big 12. Utah moves to 12-5 overall, and 5-2 in conference play.
Another hard-fought match for our Buffs, head coach Anthony Pham said, Our doubles weren't great, which was disappointing, but they did a great job at responding in singles. Every match was so competitive, and we're in this tough stretch of matches where we've lost some close ones to good teams.
The day started in favor of the Utes, following a clinch in doubles play from Utah at the top two courts.
Colorado battled back hard in singles play, after falling behind 3-0, the Buffs found two wins at the top two singles spots, including an upset from Aya El Sayed at the top spot.
Rixt van der Werff put the Buffs on the board first, finding a win at the No. 2 spot. Van der Werff downed Sara Akid, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, to cut the Utah lead to 3-1.
El Sayed followed close after defeating No. 121 Emma Kamper, bringing the match to a third set, winning 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Both Anya Nelson at No. 5 and Yukiko Ikedo at No. 6 were battling hard in third sets before Utah finally found its match-clinching win at No. 5. Ikedo was moments away from a potential win at No. 6 singles to tie the set at 3-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Doubles started off at the top spot with a win from Utah's Akid and Emma Valleta, topping Lera Alexin and Van der Werff, 6-3.
Utah clinched the doubles team point at No. 2 from Emma Kamper and Emmie Moore. El Sayed and Pia Rebec fought hard but fell, 6-3.
At No. 3, Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson kept it close against Dylan Lolofie and Kamea Medora. The pair trailed 4-3 before the match went unfinished due to the clinch.
Singles started off with a win at No. 3 for the Utes, bringing the team score to 2-0. Bubalo faced Moore, falling in two sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The Utes improved to 3-0 following another victory at No. 4, courtesy of Barksdale. Barksdale captured straight sets over Alexin, 7-5, 6-3, in a hard-fought two-match set that nearly took as long as some of the other three-setters.
Van der Werff put the Buffs on the board with a win at No. 2 over Sara Akid. Van der Werff notched the first set, 6-3, to take an early lead. In the second, the Buff fell in a 6-2 finish, taking the match to the third. Van der Werff took three straight games, allowed Akid to capture two, then came right back to seal it off with three final games, 6-2.
Minutes after Van der Werff, El Sayed picked up a victory of her own at the top spot with an upset over Kamper. El Sayed stayed in the game after picking up four straight games in the first set, to take it 6-3. Despite falling in the second, the Buff picked it back up in the third, notching a 6-4 finish, moving the team score just a 3-2 trail.
Overall it was a close one for us, El Sayed said, It was definitely challenging, overall I'm proud of how I was able to handle my emotions, and get the win.
Colorado found a close fight at No. 5 with Nelson bringing it to a third set against Valletta. Nelson fell short in a 6-4 finish the first set, then came back with a 7-5 second set to bring it to the third. Valletta found a 6-4 finish to secure the Utes win, 4-2.
At No. 6, Yukiko Ikedo was one point away from securing her win over Hayley Roberts, before the match went unfinished due to the win from Utah. Ikedo took her first set 6-2, then fell 6-4 in the second. In the final set, Ikedo led 5-4, just moments away from securing the victory.
It's not what happened, but it's how we respond, said Pham, Going forward we play Texas Tech next week, so we have to keep responding in a positive way.
UP NEXT
The Buffs are back on the road next week for a single match weekend in Lubbock, Texas. Colorado will face No. 29 Texas Tech on March 28th at 11 a.m. (MT). More information and live results can be found on the CU tennis social channels, @cubuffstennis.
RESULTS
Doubles
- Sara Akid/Emma Valleta (UU) def. Lera Alexin/Rixt van der Werff (CU), 6-3
- Emma Kamper/Emmie Moore (UU) def. Aya El Sayed/Pia Rebec (CU), 6-3
- Dylan Lolofie/Kamea Medora (UU) vs. Ema Bubalo/Anya Nelson (CU), 4-3, unf.
Order of finish: 1, 2
Singles
- Aya El Sayed (CU) def. No. 121 Emma Kamper (UU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
- Rixt van der Werff (CU) def. Sara Akid (UU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-2
- Emmie Moore (UU) def. Ema Bubalo (CU), 6-3, 6-2
- Kaila Barksdale (UU) def. Lera Alexin (CU), 7-5, 6-3
- Emma Valletta (UU) def. Anya Nelson (CU), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
- Yukiko Ikedo (CU) vs. Hayley Roberts (UU), 6-2, 4-6, 5-4, unf.
Order of finish: 3, 4, 2, 1, 5
NOTES
- Colorado holds over 100 overall singles victories this season, and over 200 total in overall career wins.
- Van der Werff captures her 19th career singles victory, and sixth career Big 12 win.
- El Sayed marks 56 career singles victories, and her 16th career win at the top spot, tying her for the sixth-most victories at the top single spot in school history.
- She also moves into a tie at 34th with the most singles and doubles victories.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,2
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,2,1,5
Players Mentioned
