Preview for this weekend's matches, with Sunday's also being Senior Day for a couple Buffs.
Direct link -
https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/4/11/tennis-buffs-ready-for-final-home-matches
"
BOULDER – For the final time this season the Colorado Buffaloes tennis team will take the courts at the CU South Tennis Courts for two more ranked teams in No. 42 Arizona and No. 31 Arizona State. Sunday's match against the Sun Devils we will celebrate our two seniors
Alexandra Abyasova and
Elys Ventura before the match.
What has become common for the Buffs playing in the Pac-12, is two more ranked teams are in Boulder, making it six of the last seven matches for the Buffs have come against ranked teams.
Despite the struggles of losing five straight matches, individual players are beginning to earn recognition for their hard work and success. The team stayed ranked coming in at No. 75, while
Aya El Sayed earned her first career singles ranking at No. 117. This marks the first time a Buff has been ranked since Linda Huang was ranked No. 113 in 2018.
Not only in singles but El Sayed and
Pia Rebec were ranked No. 54 as a doubles pairing. Joining them was
Ema Bubalo and
Anya Nelson at No. 70. For Bubalo, Nelson and Rebec they all made their first career ranking alongside El Sayed. As a team this marks the first time with a doubles team ranked since Janssens and Manzi Tenorio were ranked at No. 55 in 2012. Another milestone brings the first time since 2010 that two different pairings were ranked.
"As coaches, we are with our players every day, we know what they're capable of, the belief we have in them is immense," head coach
Anthony Pham on the recognition. "We're in kind of a tough stretch of matches against very good teams. We are doing a lot of really good things and putting ourselves in a position where things just haven't fallen our way. The individual rankings hopefully are validation for them as individuals and also for our team that even though we're losing some of these close matches, we're doing a lot of good things and continue to spur the belief that we are right there. We've been knocking on the door and then hopefully this weekend, we can kind of push through it."
The week will start against Arizona on Friday at 1:30 p.m. MT at CU South Tennis Courts. Since joining the Pac-12 the Wildcats have a 6-5 lead over the Buffs, but Colorado has won three straight in Boulder.
Following on Sunday the Buffs will host Arizona State at 11:00 a.m. at CU South Tennis Courts for Senior Day. Abyasova and Ventura will play their final match in front of the fans in Boulder. For Abyasova despite this only being her eighth match in Boulder she won her first six matches of her Colorado career.
She will be graduating next December with her master's in International Affairs.
For Ventura, she arrived in Boulder in the Fall of 2022, after starting her career at Missouri. She played primarily at No. 2 singles and No. 2 doubles with partner
Mila Stanojevic. She has accumulated 59 total wins in her two seasons including 29 doubles wins with Stanojevic which is good for eighth all-time in CU history.
Ventura will graduate in May with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing.
"Our hope and our goal is to send them off on a positive note," Pham commented on Senior Day. "I tell the team almost daily that you have to enjoy and appreciate all these opportunities. Even the little things at practice, having dinner with your teammates, in the van on the road, at the airport, these moments are fleeting. You feel like it goes on forever, but it's such a short time. Alex has only been here for a semester, but she's had a big impact on the team and we wish we had more time with her. For Elys, she has been here for two years and that time has just flown by. Our hope and our goal is to send them out on a positive note because I think that's what they deserve."
Follow along on our team's
Instagram and
X accounts @cubuffstennis. Live scoring will be available
here.
"