The Colorado Buffaloes women’s tennis team experienced its first defeat of the season, falling 4-2 to the Denver Pioneers on Sunday night at the Denver Tennis Park. The match was closely contested, with several singles matches coming down to decisive third sets.
“These matches, you hate to drop them, but early in the year, we must learn and grow from it. Denver is a good team. We knew it was going to be a battle. It’s just handling those tight moments a bit better and making sure we’re not the first ones to blink,” said Colorado’s head coach.
Colorado began the evening by securing the doubles point. After Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson lost at the top spot to Novak and Lambert (6-2), Pia Rebec and Aya El Sayed responded with a 6-2 win over Cai and Wikander at No. 2 doubles. Lera Alexin and Rixt van der Werff clinched the doubles point for Colorado with a narrow 7-5 victory against Adkins and Cinkova.
In singles play, Aya El Sayed returned to the lineup but lost in straight sets (6-2, 6-4) to Denver’s Louise Wikander, tying the overall score at 1-1. Ema Bubalo gave Colorado a brief lead by defeating Zoe Adkins in two sets (6-4, 6-4). However, Denver regained momentum as Natalie Cinkova beat Pia Rebec (6-4, 6-4) and Hana Becirovic Novak overcame Lera Alexin (7-5, 6-4).
The final two singles matches were pivotal for Colorado’s chances. At No. 6 singles, Lani Brotman won her first set in a tiebreaker but ultimately fell to Yunfei Cai after dropping the next two sets (6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3), sealing Denver’s victory. Rixt van der Werff’s match against Marley Lambert went unfinished after splitting two tiebreak sets due to Denver clinching the overall win.
Despite the loss, there were notable achievements for Colorado players: Alexin and van der Werff extended their doubles winning streak to seven matches dating back to November 2025; Bubalo reached her 24th career singles victory—the third highest on the team; while El Sayed and Rebec earned their second win of the season as a pair and their 21st career win together.
Colorado will have a week off before traveling to Minneapolis for three matches: against Alabama on February 13, followed by Minnesota and St. Thomas on February 15.
