Tennis takes fourth in Big 12 tournament

Buffs fall to Baylor in semifinals

Although members of the women’s tennis team say they are pleased with their performance this season, head coach Nicole Kenneally said the Buffs will be competing for first place in the Big 12 tournament next year instead fourth.

The team earned the fourth spot this year’s tournament over the weekend.

“We should be happy, but not content,” Kenneally said. “We’re going to keep striving to continue to strive to get into the NCAA tournaments and continue working to win a Big 12 championship and go from there.”

CU entered the Big 12 tournament No. 4 in the conference and No. 58 nationally. This meant that the Buffs had a first round bye and would face the winner of Kansas and Iowa State.

The Buffs took on Kansas on Saturday in the conference quarterfinals. Senior Gleisy Torres Torres said the team was looking forward to playing the Jayhawks.

“We were just ready for it,” Torres Torres said. “We didn’t give them a chance.”

The Buffs ended up sweeping the Jayhawks 5-0 to earn a spot in the semifinals against Baylor on Saturday. The Buffs lost Baylor 0-7 in Texas earlier this season.

When all was said and done, the power of the Bears was too much for the Buffs, and they fell 0-4.

Kenneally said she was proud of the team’s performance against Baylor, despite the loss.

“We came up a little short, and they were the better team than us on that day,” Kenneally said.

The loss ended the Buffs’ hopes of winning the Big 12 tournament, but Kenneally said the team should still be proud.

“Obviously, we would have liked to be in the finals playing for the championship,” Kenneally said. “But getting to the semis is pretty good as well. There were eight other teams that would have liked to be in the semis, so that’s not something attained by all the schools.”

For senior Veera Nurmi, the end of the Big 12 tournament meant that her time as a tennis player for CU had come to an end.

“It’s going to be sad missing college and playing tennis for CU,” Nurmi said.

The Buffs did not make it into the NCAA tournament this year.

Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Philip Fisher at Philip.Fisher@colorado.edu.