Cowgirls Drop Tightly Contested Sweep to Colorado

UW lost three, three-set matches to open singles play
LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 23, 2022) – The Wyoming Cowgirl tennis team’s seven-match home winning streak was snapped Wednesday afternoon in a hard-fought 4-0 loss to Colorado. Despite the sweep by the Buffaloes, the match was played much closer than the final score indicated.
CU (6-10) opened by taking the doubles point by winning 7-5 at both No. 2 and No. 3 spots. The Cowgirl No. 1 team of Ida Krause and Maria Oreshkina were tied at 6-6 and about to go to the tiebreak before Colorado clinched the doubles point.
On the singles side of things, the Cowgirls (6-7) lost three, three-set matches and had a fourth in the end of a third set before that went unfinished after Colorado clinched the match.
Sophie Zehender lost at the No. 1 position to Antonia Balzert, dropping the final two sets 6-4 and 7-6 (11-9) after she won the first set, 6-1. At the second singles position, UW again won the first set as Maria Oreshkina won set one 6-2 over Megan Forster, before Forster responded to win the match by taking sets two and three, 6-3 and 6-2, respectively.
At No. 3, Mila Stanojevic defeated Wyoming’s Ana Fernandez, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6 and 6-4. UW looked to be in control to win its first match of the day as Lucia Malinak was up 5-3 in the third set at the fourth spot, but didn’t get the chance to finish it out.
Wednesday was the Cowgirls’ final non-conference match of the season as they now shift the focus to Mountain West play. Wyoming opens league play this weekend with a trip to Fresno, Calif., for matches against Fresno State and San Jose State. UW and the Bulldogs begin play this weekend at 2 p.m., MT March 26 before closing with a March 27 match at 10 a.m., against SJSU.
Wyoming vs. Colorado
3/23/22 in Laramie, Wyo.
Colorado 4, Wyoming 0
Doubles competition
1. Ida Krause/Maria Oreshkina (WYO) vs. Maria Campos/Caroline Pozo (CU) 6-6, unfinished
2. Ky Ecton/Mila Stanojevic (CU) def. Ana Fernandez/Sophie Zehender (WYO) 7-5
3. Ellen Puzak/Betina Tokac (CU) def. Mihaeala Kaftanova/Lucia Malinak (WYO) 7-5
Singles competition
1. Antonia Balzert (CU) def. Zehender (WYO) 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11-9)
2. Megan Forster (CU) def. Oreshkina (WYO) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
3. Stanojevic (CU) def. Fernandez (WYO) 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 6-4
4. Malinak (WYO) vs. Tokac (CU) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 5-3, unfinished
5. Krause (WYO) vs. Ecton (CU) unfinished
6. Kaftanova (WYO) vs. Puzak (CU) unfinished