Buffs Impress in First Day of Competition

LAS VEGAS – The Colorado women's tennis program had an action-packed day here Wednesday at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Mountain Regional Championships.
 
The duo of Antonia Balzert and Aya El Sayed, coming in as the 12-seed in the doubles tournament, started the day off by taking care of Montana State's Felicia Jayasaputra and JJ Chen with a score of 8-3. Senior, Ellen Puzak and sophomore, Betina Tokac also secured a win for CU in the round of 64 after dominating 8-1 against Adithi Venkata Krishnan and Cirkeline Lundberg of Utah Tech.
 
Mila Stanojevic and Elys Ventura had a bye as the 13-seed in the round of 64. Tomorrow, they will match up against Rachelle Starreveld and Valentina Rodas of Idaho, who put together an 8-1 victory over Megan Lombardi and Dylan Lolofie from Weber State in the first round.
 
Colorado will resume doubles play tomorrow as Balzert and El Sayed face off against Lisa Kung and Monique Burton of Utah State. Puzak and Tokac will shift their focus to the round of 32 where they will take on the 16-seed Wyoming pair of Maria Oreshkina and Noesjka Brink.
 
There were also two flights of  singles in the first round of the ITA Mountain Regional Championships. The Buffs went 4-1 in their five Flight A singles matches and 0-2 in their two Flight B singles matches.
 
CU continued its day one success when Balzert and El Sayed both won their challenging first round matchups in the Flight A singles tournament. Balzert, ranked third of 16 in Flight A, defeated Yun-Thayer of Air Force in a 7-6, 7-5 match and El Sayed won 6-4, 7-5 against Lombardi.
 
Tomorrow, Balzert will play against Mariana Campino of Nevada who easily downed her first opponent, and El Sayed will go up against Claudia de Velasco of Denver University.
 
Tokac took down her singles competition easily as she won against BYU's Yujia Huang with a score of 6-0, 6-3. In an exciting match, Ventura took down Joana Baptista of Boise State, winning the first set 6-4, losing the second set 1-6, and bouncing back to win the third set 6-4. Tokac will also face a Denver Pioneer, Caroline Driscoll and Ventura will take on Sophie Zehender of Wyoming in the round of 32.
 
Colorado's, Stanojevic was eliminated in the first round after narrowly losing in three sets to Emily Dush of Colorado State by a score of 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. In Flight B, Puzak was defeated 6-2, 6-1 by Aura Fang of UNLV and Nelson lost 6-2, 6-3 to Colorado State's Sarah Weekley.
 
The Buffs will look to transfer their momentum into tomorrow as they will have another busy day with the doubles tournament and the Flight A singles tournament.
 
RESULTS
Doubles Tournament
Round of 64
(12) Antonia Balzert/Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Felicia Javasaputra/JJ Chen (MSU) 8-3
Ellen Puzak/Betina Tokac (CU) def. Adithi Venkata Krishnan/Cirkeline Lundberg (UTU) 8-1
(13) Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura (CU) BYE
 
Singles Tournament
Flight A
Round of 64
(3) Antonia Balzert (CU) def. Kayleigh Yun-Thayer (AF) 7-6, 7-5
(10) Aya El Sayed (CU) def. Megan Lombardi (WSU) 6-4, 7-5
Betina Tokac (CU) def. (8) Yujia Hang (BYU) 6-0, 6-3
Elys Ventura (CU) def. Joana Baptista (BSU) 6-4, 1-6, 6-4
Emily Dush (CSU) def. Mila Stanojevic (CU) 5-7, 6-3, 7-5
 
Flight B
Round of 64
Sarah Weekley (CSU) def. Anya Nelson (CU) 6-2, 6-3
Aura Fang (UNLV) def. Ellen Puzak (CU) 6-2, 6-1