The Colorado Buffaloes made plenty of noise on Day 2 of the Colorado Cup, collecting a doubles win and two singles victories Saturday against Denver at the University of Denver’s Denver Tennis Park.
Louise Ternstroem was at the center of it again. After teaming with Pia Rebec for a 6-3 doubles win, the first-year followed that up by sweeping Sofia Mavor 6-4, 6-2 in singles to move to 2-0 in singles for the weekend.
Heidi Crncan also delivered for Colorado, knocking off Paulina Jurkowska 6-2, 6-3 in straight sets. Rebec pushed Frankie Tye to three sets before falling 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
"I thought we came out today with better focus, energy, intent," head coach Anthony Pham said. "Just better play overall in doubles."
Colorado’s best doubles result of the day came from Rebec and Ternstroem, who had to work through a lively matchup with Jurkowska and Mavor. The Buffs grabbed the opening set, then answered DU’s push with three straight games to finish off the 6-3 win.
Crncan and Willow Gretsch ran into a tougher start against Denver’s Frankie Tye and Yunfei Cai, the 2026 Summit League Newcomer of the Year. After a 1-1 opening, the Pioneers pulled away and took the set 6-1.
The Buffs also had a unique doubles pairing in the third match of the day, with Yukiko Ikedo teaming up with Denver’s Remy Nguyen against Montana State’s Naomi Jin and Stela Sifuentes. That one went to Ikedo and Nguyen, 7-5.
Singles brought a full slate of Colorado players back onto the court, and the Buffs got contributions from Crncan and Ternstroem. Crncan handled Jurkowska in two sets, while Ternstroem stayed composed in a tougher, longer battle with Mavor and closed it out in straight sets.
Rebec’s match against Tye was more of a grind. She took the first set, dropped the second, and then saw the Denver player take control in the third to end the match.
Gretsch, meanwhile, faced Cai in singles and fell 6-1, 6-1. Ikedo was also in action, taking Caroline Daugherty to a competitive match before losing 6-4, 6-3.
Colorado had plenty of support courtside as 2025 graduates Mila Stanojevic and Betina Tokac returned to back their former teammates. Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo also were there after sitting out the weekend following their qualification for nationals last week.
The Buffaloes will close out Colorado Cup play Sunday against Colorado State. Both doubles matches are set for 9 a.m., with singles to follow later in the day.
"Same thing every day, right?" Pham said.
"We're here to play matches. We want them to keep doing things that are a little uncomfortable for them.
There are things that we're working on in practice, and the more they do it in matches, the more success they have."
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