The Colorado Buffaloes women’s tennis team lost to No. 36 Houston on Mar. 15, with a final score of 4-0 at the Barbara Wallace Winston Tennis Facility.
This result leaves Colorado with a 10-6 overall record and a 2-4 mark in the Big 12 Conference, while Houston improves to 12-3 overall and holds a 3-3 conference record. The match was marked by challenging windy conditions, which head coach Anthony Pham said played a role in the outcome. “Disappointing result for our team today,” Pham said. “It was very windy, Houston handled the conditions better than we did, but we did a good job at making adjustments in the second sets to give ourselves a chance.”
Despite the loss, Colorado secured an early doubles victory from Ema Bubalo and Anya Nelson, marking their 36th career win as partners. Pham commented on the team’s effort: “We battled in doubles and gave ourselves a chance through every court, but just fell short. Overall, the team competed really hard. We just have to refocus.” In singles play, Pia Rebec led her second set before her match went unfinished due to Houston clinching the overall win; Rixt van der Werff also had her second set tied when play stopped.
Houston won two of three doubles matches and swept all completed singles matches. Notably, Bubalo and Nelson defeated Petja Drame and Elizaveta Morozova at No. 3 doubles (6-4), while Aya El Sayed and Rebec narrowly lost their match at No. 1 doubles (7-5). In singles competition, Valeriia Krokhotina defeated Bubalo (6-0, 6-4), Sophie Schouten beat Heidi Crncan (7-5, 6-4), and Morozova overcame El Sayed (6-2, 6-3).
The Buffaloes now look ahead to home matches against BYU on Mar. 19 and Utah on Mar. 21 at the Meadows Club. Pham said: “We have two great opportunities next week with BYU and Utah,” adding that he believes his team will respond well: “I know our team is resilient, and we will respond to the adversity.”
