The Colorado Buffaloes women’s tennis team lost 4-0 to the Kansas Jayhawks in their second Big 12 match of the season on Sunday at the Jayhawk Tennis Center. The defeat follows a win over Iowa State earlier in the weekend. Colorado’s record now stands at 9-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, while Kansas secured its first Big 12 victory to move to 5-6 for the season.
“Tough result for our team today,” said head coach Anthony Pham. “I thought we were a little passive today in doubles today and ultimately that was the difference in us dropping the doubles point.”
Colorado started strong in doubles with Lera Alexin and Rixt van der Werff winning at No. 2, extending their undefeated dual record this season to seven matches. However, losses at No. 1 and No. 3 meant Kansas took the doubles point.
In singles play, Kansas won three matches to clinch the team victory. Heike Janse Van Vuuren defeated Aya El Sayed at No. 1 singles with two sets of 6-3, followed by Meriem Ben Ezzedine beating Pia Rebec at No. 3 (6-4, 6-3). Nahyeong Cho secured the fourth point for Kansas by overcoming Alexin (7-5, 6-3).
Other singles matches were unfinished but showed competitive efforts from Colorado players. Rixt van der Werff forced a third set against Yerkezhan Arystanbekova after losing the first set without winning a game but taking the second set narrowly at 7-5 before trailing in the third when play stopped. Lani Brotman led her match after winning a tight first set but was behind as play ended; Anya Nelson split sets with Anna Putilina before their match was halted.
“The team fought really hard across the board in singles but couldn’t quite get the job done today,” Pham said. “We’ve been on the road for the last month and look forward to playing in front of our home fans next weekend in Boulder.”
Colorado will return home for its conference opening weekend beginning March 6, facing Kansas State on Friday and Oklahoma State on Sunday at The Meadows Club.
Alexin and van der Werff remain undefeated as a doubles pair this dual season with seven wins so far and have accumulated eighteen career victories together.
El Sayed and Rebec notched their third win as a duo this weekend—bringing their total as partners at No.1 position to fourteen.
El Sayed reached ninety-four career singles and doubles wins during her fifth season.
