Seniors Lead Way To Pac-12 Upset

BOULDER – The Colorado women's tennis team closed out its home season on the highest of notes here Sunday, sending its three seniors home with a 6-1 upset over No.49-ranked Arizona.
 
Colorado (8-12, 1-8 Pac-12) picked up its first conference win of the season behind four wins from the seniors, taking the doubles point from Arizona (15-9, 3-6) and capturing three of the first four singles matches.
 
Seniors Ky Ecton, Megan Forster and Caroline Pozo all left their marks on the day. Pozo joined up with Antonia Balzert to win the No.1 doubles match 6-3, and just seconds later Ecton along with Mila Stanojevic took the No.2 doubles match by the same score.
 
After Maria Campos fell in the No.3 singles match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 against Midori Castillo, Pozo reclaimed the lead with a tight three-set win over Kayla Wilkins in the No.2 singles match. Pozo took the first set 6-2 but dropped the second by a score of 6-3. The graduate student dominated the third set to give CU the lead again with a 6-3 third set.
 
Balzert picked up the next point, battling hard with Salma Ziouti in the No.1 singles match. The pair traded 6-4 sets, then in the third Balzert fell into a 3-0 hole. She quickly climbed out and reclaimed the lead at 5-4, then closed out the victory with another 6-4 set.
 
As fitting as possible, the match came down to Forster in the No.4 singles match. With her fellow four-year senior Ecton by her side cheering her on, Forster took early control against Khim Iglupas and never looked back. She took the first set 6-3, then rallied to the win with a 6-3 second set victory.
 
Stanojevic closed out the next match against Kirsten Pelle. She took the first set 6-3, then rallied from down 5-4 to win the second set 7-5. Tokac was the final match of the day in the No.6 singles against Belen Nevenhoven, taking the first set 6-3 and the second.
 
Colorado closes out the regular season next weekend with a trip to Utah before beginning play in the Pac-12 Conference Championship Tournament.
 
QUOTES
Head Coach Anthony Pham
On The Match
It was fun to be part of, obviously it's stressful,  but we keep talking literally every match about finding a way and today we found a way. We played our best doubles point of the year but we've been building and playing really good doubles the last couple of weeks and it's great for them to see the results. Arizona's a tough team, they've had a good year. I'm just really proud of everyone. Great way to send the seniors off.
 
On The Seniors
Going into this match we try to take them match by match but we knew we wanted to get this one. With it being senior day at home, the team one through nine really showed up for each other. We found ways and just really proud of them for sticking together a tough one today.
 
On What This Win Means Going Into Utah And Pac-12
It's huge. You want to be playing your best tennis at the end, and the last two to three weeks we've been building towards this. To see us kind of get through this match and in the fashion that we did was great to pick our confidence. Utah's had a good year too and we're going to go there and compete our butts off and try and get another one.
 
RESULTS
Colorado 6, #49 University of Arizona 1
 
Singles competition
1. Antonia Balzert (COLO) def. Salma Ziouti (ARIZ) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4
2. Caroline Pozo (COLO) def. Kayla Wilkins (ARIZ) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
3. Midori Castillo-Meza (ARIZ) def. Maria Campos (COLO) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. Megan Forster (COLO) def. Khim Iglupas (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-2
5. Mila Stanojevic (COLO) def. Kirsten Prelle (ARIZ) 6-3, 7-5
6. Betina Tokac (COLO) def. Belen Nevenhoven (ARIZ) 6-3, 6-1
 
Doubles competition
1. Antonia Balzert/Caroline Pozo (COLO) def. Kirsten Prelle/Salma Ziouti (ARIZ) 6-3
2. Ky Ecton/Mila Stanojevic (COLO) def. Khim Iglupas/Kayla Wilkins (ARIZ) 6-3
3. Ellen Puzak/Betina Tokac (COLO) vs. Belen Nevenhoven/Kayla Meraz (ARIZ) 4-3, unfinished
 
Match Notes:
University of Arizona 15-9, 3-6 Pac-12; National ranking #49
Colorado 8-12, 1-8 Pac-12
 
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2); Singles (3,2,1,4,5,6)