Colorado Edges BYU
BOULDER – In what was a back-and-forth battle, the Colorado Buffaloes knocked off the BYU Cougars Friday afternoon by a score of 5-2 at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center.
"I mean it was good overall, wasn't our day in the doubles for several reasons, but I think it was a good test for us to see how we respond," said head coach Danielle Steinberg. "Dropping the doubles points at home, I think the girls responded very well. They came back focused and took it to them in singles. This is a good team, BYU is a good team. Well coached and disciplined and I was really happy with how we came out in singles on all courts honestly, even Toni with the loss was, there were a lot of positive today. So, overall good day, we had a good week of practice and this was a good match and hopefully will lead to a good match on Sunday."
The Buffaloes improved their season record to 5-1. Although BYU (6-2) hung around for a while, they couldn't make the final push they needed, as their season record falls to 6-2.
BYU jumped out to an early lead over the Buffaloes as Leah Heimuli and Emilee Astle won match No.2 doubles match by a score of 6-1. In the No.1 doubles match, Sara Nayar and Sophia Derivan continued their doubles dominance for the Buffs, as they evened things out at a match a piece with a 6-4 win. Ultimately, it was Qianxin Kong and Kara Lin who took match No.3 doubles match over Megan Forster and Maria Campos and clinched the point with a 7-6 win for BYU.
Switching the focus over to the singles matches, Nayar beat Anastasia Abramyan in straight sets to tie things up with a 6-1, 6-3 win in the No.1 singles match. Immediately following, Derivan continued her outstanding singles play, claiming the lead for Colorado as she beat Heimuli in straight sets to win match No.2 6-4, 6-2.
"I mean I'm sure they're aware of their record, but I probably wasn't even thinking rankings until reminded," said Steinberg on if Nayar and Derivan could both be ranked this season. "I think they're a good doubles team. I'm excited to see them challenged and push it to the next level, to see if they can really compete at that high level, but so far they're showing us that they can. They play power tennis. Especially at home, that's hard to play against."
Astle tied things up at two points each as she defeated Antonia Balzert in straight sets to win the No.3 singles match by a score of 7-6, 6-4. The dual score was square at 2-2 after the first three singles matches.
In the second half of the singles matches, Campos defeated Helen Jiao in straight sets in match No.5, winning the point for Colorado 6-4, 6-0. With a 3-2 lead for the Buffaloes, Forster who clinched the win for the Buffs, as she won match the No.4 singles match in straight sets over Kara Lin by a score of 6-2, 6-4. In No.6 match, Fleur Eggink finished strong for the Buffaloes, winning the match 7-6, 4-6, 10-5.
"Any team in Colorado we want to beat," said Steinberg looking forward. "We took a loss to DU last year here. They're really well coached, very disciplines and a very good team every year. We have a lot of respect for them, but we are right there with them so it should be a very competitive match Sunday."
Colorado returns to action Sunday at 9 a.m. when they travel up the road to take on Denver at 9 a.m.
RESULTS
Singles
1. Sara Nayar (COLO) def. Anastasia Abramyan (BYU) 6-1, 6-3
2. Sophia Derivan (COLO) def. Leah Heimuli (BYU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Emilee Astle (BYU) def. Antonia Balzert (COLO) 7-6, 6-4
4. Megan Forster (COLO) def. Kara Lin (BYU) 6-2, 6-4
5. Maria Campos (COLO) def. Helen Jiao (BYU) 6-4, 6-0
6. Fleur Eggink (COLO) def. Qianxin Kong (BYU) 7-6, 4-6, 10-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4, 6
Doubles
1. Nayar/Derivan (COLO) def. Abramyan/Jiao (BYU) 6-4
2. Heimuli/Astle (BYU) def. Ecton/Eggink (COLO) 6-1
3. Kong/Lin (BYU) def. Campos/Forster (COLO) 7-6
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3
Colorado: 5-1
BYU: 6-2