Buffaloes Fall To No.25 Bears

BOULDER – The University of Colorado women's tennis team fell 5-2 to No.25-ranked Baylor here Saturday afternoon despite a pair of wins from CU freshmen.
 
Colorado (0-3) remains winless while the Bears (3-3) pull to .500 this season after picking up a crucial doubles point and the bottom three singles matches.
 
Baylor picked up the first doubles match, winning 6-1 over Mila Stanojevic and Ky Ecton, but CU quickly responded with Betina Tokac and Ellen Puzak winning the third doubles match 6-3.
 
Everything came down to the No.1 doubles match with Caroline Pozo and Maria Campos taking on the No.2-ranked tandem in the NCAA in Mel Krywoj and Alicia Herrero. Colorado was up 5-4 but dropped a pair of games to find themselves down 6-5. CU tied things up and sent things to a tiebreaker where both teams were even through the first six points. Baylor captured the lead at 6-4 and finished things off two points later, 7-5, to take the doubles point.
 
Moving to singles, Tokac made quick work in the No.3 singles match against Herrero. The freshman swept the first set 6-0, then tied up the match at 1-1 with a 6-1 second set victory.
 
Colorado took the lead after Stanojevic won her 11th-straight match with a 6-4, 6-2 win in the No.2 singles against Krywoj. Baylor tied things up through the first three singles matches with a win in the No.1 singles match as Isabella Harvison defeated Pozo 6-4, 6-3.
 
Moving to the second round of singles, Baylor pressed the advantage with a win in the No.4 singles match as No.73-ranked Anita Shcherbinina defeated Sophia Derivan 6-1, 5-0 after Derivan retired from the match trailing 40-30 in the sixth game of the second set. 
 
Baylor clinched the match when Anita Sahdiieva defeated Ecton 6-3, 6-2 in the No.5 singles match. Action finished out with Puzak falling to Paula Baranano 6-4, 7-5 in the No.6 singles match.
 
The Buffs look to bounce back tomorrow when they face Gonzaga at 10 a.m. in the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center.
 
QUOTES
Head Coach Anthony Pham
On The Match
I'm happy with the performance we put out in doubles and for the most part in singles. We talked to the group afterward, it's like the margins are so small and we're making progress. Sometime as coaches you're talking things and things are intangible. To have results like this against a well-established, nationally-ranked program like Baylor, it was encouraging. Now we just have to try to recover and hopefully get ready for tomorrow.
 
On The Freshmen And Mila's Win Streak
I mean, that's great. It's good to see them coming through, it's obviously a testament to them. It's also just building some belief. With Mila, when she first got here she had an up-and-down fall, then she won a couple matches and all of a sudden the belief came. You talk to her and watch her play now you can see that. Very happy to see that for both of them.
 
RESULTS
#25 Baylor 5, Colorado 2
 
Singles competition
1. Isabella Harvison (BU) def. Caroline Pozo (COLO) 6-4, 6-3
2. Mila Staojevic (COLO) def. Mel Krywoj (BU) 6-4, 6-2
3. Betina Tokac (COLO) def. Alicia Herrero (BU) 6-0, 6-1
4. #73 Alina Shcherbinina (BU) def. Sophia Derivan (COLO) 6-1, 5-0, retired
5. Anita Sahdiieva (BU) def. Ky Ecton (COLO) 6-3, 6-2
6. Paula Baranano (BU) def. Ellen Puzak (COLO) 6-4, 7-5
 
Doubles competition
1. #2 Alicia Herrero/Mel Krywoj (BU) def. Caroline Pozo/Maria Campos (COLO) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Anita Sahdiieva/Alina Shcherbinina (BU) def. Mila Staojevic/Ky Ecton (COLO) 6-1
3. etina Tokac/Ellen Puzak (COLO) def. Isabella Harvison/Paula Baranano (BU) 6-3
 
Match Notes:
Baylor 3-3; National ranking #25
Colorado 0-3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3,1); Singles (3,2,1,4,5,6)
Alina Shcherbinina 73rd-ranked singles
Herrero/Krywoj 2nd-ranked doubles