The Colorado Buffaloes women’s tennis team lost a close match to No. 44 Utah, 4-2, at the Meadows Club on March 21. The Buffaloes now have a season record of 10-8 overall and are 2-6 in Big 12 conference play, while Utah improved to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
This result matters for both teams as they continue their campaigns in the competitive Big 12 conference, where every win can impact postseason opportunities. The match was closely contested, with several singles matches going to three sets.
Head coach Anthony Pham said, “Another hard-fought match for our Buffs. 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.” After losing the doubles point with defeats at the top two courts, Colorado rallied during singles play. Rixt van der Werff earned a win at No. 2 singles over Sara Akid (6-3, 2-6, 6-2), putting Colorado on the scoreboard. Aya El Sayed followed with an upset victory against No. 121 Emma Kamper (6-3, 2-6, 6-4).
Other matches were tightly contested as well. Anya Nelson pushed her opponent Emma Valletta to three sets before falling (6-4, 5-7, 6-4), which clinched the win for Utah. Yukiko Ikedo was leading her third set against Hayley Roberts when play was stopped due to Utah’s clinch.
Reflecting on her performance after defeating Kamper at the top spot, El Sayed said: “Overall it was a close one for us… It was definitely challenging; overall I’m proud of how I was able to handle my emotions and get the win.” Pham added: “It’s not what happened, but it’s how we respond… Going forward we play Texas Tech next week, so we have to keep responding in a positive way.”
Looking ahead, Colorado will travel for an away match against No. 29 Texas Tech on March 28 at Lubbock, Texas.
