BOULDER – The No. 51 Colorado Buffaloes tennis team hit the road for the first time this season for Pac-12 play. The Buffs will start on Friday in Seattle Wash. against No. 29 Washington and finish the weekend on Sunday against Washington State.
“Every match in the Pac-12, every team in the Pac-12 is good,” head coach Anthony Pham said on the weekend. “This weekend presents a good challenge for our team. Washington is a perennial top 20 program and they always play well at home. Washington State is always tough to play in Pullman, but I think our team is eager and ready to take on the challenge.”
In the second weekend of conference play Colorado (12-1, 1-0) will look to continue the best start in program history by taking full control of the longest winning streak in program history. The Buffs have won 11 straight matches, tying the program record for most consecutive matches won in a single season, set in 1988.
To do that, Colorado must take down No. 29 Washington (10-6, 0-2) on Friday at the Bill Quillian Stadium at 2:30 MT. The Huskies are coming off three straight losses to top 20 teams; No. 9 USC, No. 11 Ohio State, and No. 18 UCLA. Despite the rough stretch for the Huskies, they have taken down four ranked teams earlier in the season; No. 26 Baylor, No. 46 Illinois, No. 54 Memphis, and No. 59 San Diego State.
Last season Colorado beat Washington for the first time since 1991, winning in one of the most thrilling finishes in Colorado history. After being down 3-0, the Buffs rattled off four straight singles victories to upset the Huskies who were ranked No. 16 at the time. It was only the eighth time defeating a team ranked No. 16 or better and for just the second time in the past 16 seasons.
“With matches like that where you are playing a good team and coming back and winning in the fashion that we did was incredibly pivotal,” Pham said on the victory over Washington last season. “We provide ourselves on competing and our fitness and those are things that show up in matches daily.”
Three of the four wins came from the top producers of this year’s team. Aya El Sayed has still yet to lose a Pac-12 match, Mila Stanojevic has started the season 9-1 in singles and 9-2 in doubles, and Betina Tokac is unbeaten at No. 4 singles at 9-0.
On top of the hot starts from the returning players, newcomers Alexandra Abyasova and Pia Rebec are undefeated at No. 5 and No. 6 singles for a combined 10-0 on the season.
“Depth is huge in any sport and for our team, it’s no different,” Pham said on the depth of the team. “We’re confident in whoever we have to put into the lineup because I think our players and our team do a good job daily preparing themselves because they know that the opportunity could come at any time.”
With the lineup of El Sayed, Elys Ventura, Stanojevic, Tokac, Abyasova, and Rebec the Buffs are 7-0 and have only lost one match between No. 3 and No. 6 singles.
On Sunday the Buffs will travel south to Pullman to take on Washington State (8-4, 0-2) at the Outdoor Tennis Center at Noon.
First conference road trip on deck ??#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/9vWfsF6ZWQ
— Colorado Buffaloes Tennis (@CUBuffsTennis) March 11, 2024
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