CU Drops First Match of Season, Lose 6-1 at Denver

DENVER— The University of Colorado women's tennis fell for the first time this season dropping their match against the Denver Pioneers 6-1 at the Colorado Athletic Club-Monaco here in Denver.

The loss drops CU's record to 4-1 on the season. CU had dominated every match they've had so far this season but on Saturday Denver's aggressive play was just too much for the Buffs to handle.

HOW IT HAPPENED: For the first time this season CU was unable to take the doubles point and it put the Buffs in a 1-0 hole to start the match.

Playing together in the No. 2 slot, CU's sophomore pairing of Annabelle Andrinopoulos and Ilana Oleynik dropped their match to the Pioneer duo of Bianca Mok and Morgan Barnhill 6-2.

In the No. 3 doubles CU senior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz, paired up with sophomore Brigitte Beck, fell 7-5 to Denver's grouping of Sonja Radosevic and Gracia Mboko. But the Buff pairing didn't go down without a fight.

Facing a 3-2 deficit, the two Buffs fought back to a 5-4 lead midway through the match. However, the Denver duo proved to be too much for Ruiz and Beck as they were unable to hold the lead dropping the next three games to lose the match.

CU entered singles play looking to rebound from the doubles matches, but the struggles continued for CU in singles play.

The No. 1 position was a matchup of nationally ranked opponents as CU's No. 77 Ruiz took on Denver's Mok, ranked No. 108. Mok managed to get the best of Ruiz in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 to hand Ruiz her first loss of the spring season.

Denver continued to keep the pressure on the Buffs with the next point coming at the No. 3 position. CU's Andrinopoulos dropped her match in straight sets to Denver's Maureen Slattery 6-0, 6-3.

The loss put the Buffs in a 3-0 hole and going forward they were unable to recover from the early deficit. Denver clinched the match shortly after, when at the No. 6 positon Arisha Ladhani defeated CU's Beck in straight sets 6-1, 6-0.

In the No. 5 slot CU's Oleynik also dropped her match in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 against Denver's Radosevic.

At the No. 4 spot CU freshman Chloe Hule continued her strong start to her first spring campaign winning her fourth match of the season taking down Denver's Mboko in straight sets 7-6, 6-2 to give the Buffs their first, and only win on the day.

The final match of the day was competed at the No. 2 position where CU junior Louise Ronaldson dropped her first match of the season to Denver's Julia O'Loughlin 6-4, 6-7, 1-0.

NOTABLE: Hule's freshman year is off to a great start and her win today improves her spring record to 4-1 while primarily playing in the No. 4 spot for the Buffs.

QUOTEABLE (CU Head Coach Nicole Kenneally):
General:
"Obviously we're disappointed. Denver has a solid team. They won their conference last year and they have some players back from injury that they didn't have last year. I think the biggest positive that we can take out of this is that it's a learning opportunity. I've said the whole season that this group is special and I think that we learned a lot about ourselves and what we need to be working on both on and off the court. And I believe that this team will step up and take care of business making adjustments where needed that will continue to let us thrive."

On Chloe Hule:
"Chloe is a fighter out there. She plays with a lot of heart and she knows her strengths and she really tries to play too those. She was in a dog fight and she did really well. She hung in there at the end of the first set, she had some opportunities to finish the set earlier but the girl was able to fight back. But Chloe was able to close it out in the tiebreaker and she really came out firing in the second and she just didn't go away. It would have been easy for her to walk away after the girl was able to come back but she stayed in there, and she did a great job."

On New Mexico:
"Tomorrow we have New Mexico and we're ready for them. They're another top team in the region and we have the opportunity to get straight back out on the court after a loss so we can get a win. We had a tough loss tonight but tomorrow we get to turn around and play again. So, I look forward to tomorrow and seeing us come out to compete."

UP NEXT: The Buffs look to rebound on Sunday as they welcome the New Mexico Lobos to Boulder. The match begins at 2:00 p.m. and will be played at the Rocky Mountain Tennis Center.

Denver 6, Colorado 1
February 4, 2017 at Denver, Colo. (Colorado Athletic Club-Monaco)
Singles:
1. No. 108 Bianca Mok (DU) def. No. 77 Nuria Ormeño Ruiz (CU) 6-4, 6-1
2. Julia O'Loughlin (DU) def. Louise Ronaldson (CU) 6-4, 6-7, 1-0
3. Maureen Slattery (DU) def. Annabelle Andrinopoulos (CU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Chloe Hule (CU) def. Gracia Mboko (DU) 7-6, 6-2
5. Sonja Radosevic (DU) def. Ilana Oleynik (CU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Arisha Ladhani (DU) def. Brigitte Beck (CU) 6-1, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 3, 6*, 5, 4, 2

Doubles:
1. Louise Ronaldson/Chloe Hule (CU) v. No. 13 Julia O'Loughlin/Maureen Slattery (DU) DNF
2. Bianca Mok/Morgan Barnhill (DU) def. Annabelle Andrinopoulos/Ilana Oleynik (CU) 6-2
3. Gracia Mboko/Sonja Radosevic (DU) def. Nuria Ormeño Ruiz/Brigitte Beck (CU) 7-5
Order of Finish: 2, 3*

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Players Mentioned

Annabelle Andrinopoulos

Brigitte Beck

Chloe Hule

Ilana Oleynik

Nuria Ormeño Ruiz

Louise Ronaldson