The Colorado Buffaloes opened the San Diego State Invitational with a clean sweep in doubles and added two singles wins Friday at the Aztec Tennis Complex, putting together a strong start to the three-day event in San Diego.
Colorado’s doubles teams set the tone immediately. Lera Alexin and Ema Bubalo, back on court together after earning an NCAA Individual Championships bid at ITA Mountain Regionals in October, beat Denver’s Sofia Mavor and Paulina Jurkowska 6-3.
On the next court, Heidi Crncan and Willow Gretsch handled Colorado State’s Diana Lizarazo and Leyla Tozin by the same score, 6-3. Pia Rebec and Louise Ternstroem finished the sweep with a 6-4 win over San Diego’s Lila Grace Bachour and Anna Linn Moll.
“I thought we did a nice job in doubles today,” CU Head Coach Anthony Pham said. “Our response mechanism was outstanding and we played with great enthusiasm overall.”
The Buffs carried that momentum into singles, where Bubalo and Crncan both came through in straight sets. Bubalo beat UC San Diego’s Sonya Goldberg 6-3, 6-2, while Crncan was even sharper against UCSD freshman Kannchaya Chugwantan, rolling to a 6-0, 6-1 victory.
Alexin also pushed her match to a deciding third set before falling to UCSD’s Cassie Blakey 6-4, 3-6, 6-1. Rebec, making her first competitive singles appearance of the season, dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Stanford’s Caroline Driscoll. Ternstroem’s match against Denver’s Paulina Jurkowska ended with Jurkowska leading 6-5 before Ternstroem retired.
Colorado’s day began with the doubles pairings and a familiar feel. Alexin and Bubalo, who had already beaten Denver opponents earlier this fall at Regionals and the Colorado Cup, made it three straight over the Pioneers after taking control early and closing out the set. Crncan and Gretsch also got the better of a familiar foe in Colorado State, and Rebec and Ternstroem finished the job against the Tritons in a tighter matchup to complete the sweep.
In singles, Bubalo kept the Buffs moving after the morning success, taking the first set against Goldberg and finishing the match with another steady second set. Crncan was dominant from the start, not giving Chugwantana a foothold in the opening set and allowing just one game in the second.
Colorado returns to action Saturday, with doubles set to start at 9 a.m. local time and singles to follow at 9:45 a.m. Pham said, “Our group continues to compete very hard across the board,” and added, “Tommorow is another opportunity for us to get better!”
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