Buffs Get Sixth Win, Top Utah State 4-2

BOULDER – Looking to remain undefeated at home, the University of Colorado women's tennis team did just that beating the Utah State Aggies 4-2, on Saturday at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center.

The win improves the Buffs record to 6-1 and it drops the Aggies to 5-2 on the season. CU not only remains undefeated at home, they've also held serve on every doubles point played in Boulder so far this spring season.

HOW IT HAPPENED: In doubles play the Buffs came out and took the point, but it wasn't easy as Utah State forced CU to dig in and finish strong.

Starting the scoring and giving the Buffs their first point of the day came at the No. 2 spot when the Buff grouping of senior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz and junior Kyra Wojcik took care of business against the Aggie grouping of Maggie O'Meara and Hannah Jones winning easily 6-3.

The clinching point and first true battle of the day came at the No. 3 spot.

Trailing 4-2 to Utah State's pairing of Lucy Octave and Sophia Haleas, the Buff pair of sophomore Annabelle Andrinopoulos and Brigitte Beck faced a hard and difficult climb to get back in the match.

The CU duo dug in deep and when facing the 4-2 hole they showed grit and determination, as they tore off four straight points to give CU the clinching win and first hard fought victory of the day.

Entering singles play the Buffs were leading 1-0 and with the great finish in doubles CU looked to stay strong through their matches.

Taking the momentum gained by the Buffs, Ruiz, playing in her customary No. 1 spot, continued her strong start to the spring season with a straight set win 6-0, 6-0 against Utah State's Nini Guensler.

It was the first time since October 14, 2015, when Ruiz beat Air Force's Veronica Dodds at the USTA/ITA Mountain Regional in Las Vegas, Nevada, that Ruiz didn't drop a game in either set on her way to a straight set win.

Keeping up the pace for the Buffs was CU junior Louise Ronaldson as she battled against Utah State's Sabrina Demerath in the No. 2 position. Ronaldson handled the first set 6-1, but Demerath wouldn't go away without a fight.

In the second set Ronaldson trailed 4-3 before battling back to take a 5-4 lead. But Demerath stayed in the match and she fought back to tie it at 6-6 to force the tiebreaker.

It was in the breaker that Ronaldson slammed the door shut on Demerath. Early in the breaker the score was tied at 2-2, but that would be the closest Demerath would get as Ronaldson took the next five out of six points to take the final set 7-6 (4) and give CU a commanding 3-0 lead in the match.

Another battle on the day came at the No. 3 spot as Utah State's Octave defeated CU freshman Chloe Hule in a three-set marathon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Hule had been riding a five-match winning streak, but she was unable to keep her energy up during the third set slowly letting Octave crawl back in to take the final set after Hule had taken a 4-1 lead on the Aggie.

With the overall score at 3-1, the Buffs looked to finish up the match but the Aggies weren't about to make it easy on the Buffs, making CU earn every point they would get for the remainder of the match.

In the No. 5 spot Utah State's Jones kept the Aggies in the match taking down CU's Beck in straight sets 6-0, 6-4 closing the gap in the score to 3-2.

The clinching point finally came at the No. 4 match where CU's Andrinopoulos battled Utah State's O'Meara in a three-set back and forth affair with Andrinopoulos coming away with the win 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to wrap the day for the Buffs.

The first set went by easy for Andrinopoulos, but in the second set O'Meara was determined to not go away taking the set 6-4 to force a third set decider.

"Annabelle had a tough one today, but she fought hard in the second set," said CU head coach Nicole Kenneally. "She gave herself opportunities in the second and really made her girl work for it."

While this was going on Utah State was battling back into the overall match putting more and more pressure on Andrinopoulos to finish off her match and give CU the win.

Andrinopoulos handled the pressure she faced, and after falling behind 3-1 in the third set Andrinopoulos dug deep down and found a way to fight back as she scored three straight points to take a 4-3 lead.

Both Andrinopoulos and O'Meara then traded games to give Andrinopoulos a 5-4 lead and a chance to serve for the win.

The final point was a long return from O'Meara for a final set score of 6-4, and as Andrinopoulos' teammates stormed the court it meant that the Buffs had finally locked up their sixth win of the season.

"I would say that's probably Annabelle's biggest win in regards to closing out the match and facing adversity," said Kenneally.

NOTEWORTHY: This was Andrinopoulos's 20th career win, it was also the first clinching win of her career and her first three set win since March 13, 2016 against Arizona's Devin Chypyha; Ruiz improves to 6-1 at the No. 1 spot during the fall season (15-5 overall); Ronaldson improves to 4-1 at the No. 2 spot (13-3 overall).

QUOTEWORTHY (CU Head Coach Nicole Kenneally):
"We had great doubles today. Good teams have great success at two and three doubles and at the four, five and six in singles and today our two and three doubles stepped up. Number one doubles were playing great as well, but numbers two and three got to the finish line first. Being in the facility that we play in you put one, two and three on so you want to get out to a good lead. One, two and three played great. Chloe [Hule] had a tough match today and it was close, and to put herself in that fight was tremendous. It showed great composure for her to do that. Then you put four, five and six out and they knew where we were sitting at. Even as Annabelle was finishing up, we had Kyra [Wojcik] up a set and winning her second set 2-1 so she was putting us in a great position at the end. We've had our adversity these past couple of weeks but I think that we've learned what we're about and the fight that this team has and the ability to step up when your number is called and to make something happen. I think to have that characteristic is really good and it shows this teams fortitude."

Sophomore Annabelle Andrinopoulos:
On the Clinching Match:
"I came out pretty strong and playing well. In the second set she fought back and I went through some adversity and I had to find a way to deal with that. I remained strong and tough and things just worked out my way. But it was a really close match that got me a little bit nervous."

On Getting 20th Career Win:
"It's been great to play with my teammates and it's given me more confidence. I feel like I keep getting better with every match and I enjoy it more every day."

UP NEXT: The Buffs hit the road on Wednesday as they travel to the U.S. Air Force Academy to take on the Falcons at 5:00 p.m. MT.

Colorado 4, Utah State 2
February 11, 2017 at Boulder, Colo. (Rocky Mountain Tennis Center)
Singles:
1. Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU) def. Nini Guensler (USU) 6-0, 6-0
2. Louise Ronaldson (CU) def. Sabrina Demerath (USU) 6-1, 7-6 (4)
3. Lucy Octave (USU) def. Chloe Hule (CU) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
4. Annabelle Andrinopoulos (CU) def. Maggie O'Meara (USU) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
5. Hannah Jones (USU) def. Brigitte Beck (CU) 6-0, 6-4
6. Kyra Wojcik (CU) v. Sophia Haleas (USU) DNF
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3, 5, 4*

Doubles:
1. Louise Ronaldson/Chloe Hule (CU) v. Nini Guensler/Sabrina Demerath (USU) DNF
2. Nuria Ormeño Ruiz/Kyra Wojcik (CU) def. Maggie O'Meara/Hannah Jones (USU) 6-3
3. Brigitte Beck/Annabelle Andrinopoulos (CU) def. Lucy Octave/Sophia Haleas (USU) 6-4
Order of Finish: 2, 3*

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Andrinopoulos

Brigitte Beck

Chloe Hule

Nuria Ormeño Ruiz

Louise Ronaldson

Kyra Wojcik