Colorado Opens Season At ITA Kickoff

BOULDER – Colorado women's tennis program will open the 2022 dual season this weekend at the 2022 ITA Kickoff Weekend, hosted by No.7-ranked Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.
 
The team will take on Notre Dame Saturday at 2 p.m. MT during the opening round of the competition. If they win, Colorado will either take on the winner of Pepperdine/Columbia Sunday at 2 p.m., and if they lose they will take on the loser at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
The Buffs will open their season a week later than anticipated after having to cancel their trip to Indiana where they were scheduled to take on Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and Ball State. The Buffs last competed at the Bonita Bay Classic where the team defeated Notre Dame in an exhibition dual, 4-3, before dropping its other two matches against Florida Gulf Coast and Purdue.
 
Freshman Mila Stanojevic ended the fall season on an eight-match singles win streak. She finished the fall season with an 11-4 record in singles play and an 8-6 record in doubles play to lead CU in both disciplines. Freshman Betina Tokac joined her as the only other Buff with a winning record in doubles play in the fall at 5-4, while Antonia Balzert, Caroline Pozo, Tokac and Megan Forster all went .500 or better in singles play.
 
The team finished the fall season with a 47-49 record in singles play and an 18-28 record in doubles play utilizing 17 different doubles combinations.
 
The Buffaloes are 2-0 against Notre Dame but haven't faced them in a dual since seeing them twice in 1988. They have not faced off with Pepperdine since 1988 either and are 0-6 against the host school. CU has never played Columbia.
 
Notre Dame is 2-1 this season with a loss to Kentucky and wins against Michigan State and Bowling Green. Columbia won both matches last weekend against Long Island University and Sacred Heart with a combined score of 13-1, while Pepperdine lost its opening dual to No. 9 Cal 4-3 at home, dropping their ranking from second in the nation to seventh. The Waves have six individuals ranked in the top-100 and a pair of top-20 doubles teams that both feature Victoria Flores.

Ranked Individuals
No.10 Lisa Zaar (PEPP)
No. 18 Taisiya Pachkaleva (PEPP)
No. 30 Victoria Flores (PEPP)
No. 31 Shiori Fukuda (PEPP)
No. 36 Savannah Broadus (PEPP)
No. 93 Janice Tjen (PEPP)
 
Ranked Doubles
No.11 Flores/Zaar (PEPP)
No. 17 Flores/Tjen (PEPP)