Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Kevin Pankow at kevin.pankow@colorado.edu
The University of Colorado women’s tennis team wrapped up their season this week at the Pac-12 Championships in Ojai, California, and made history along the way. The competition began on Wednesday, April 20 and continues through Sunday, April 24.
The Buffs finished their season with an overall record of 7-15, 2-8 in Pac-12 play, which was tied for their best record since joining the conference.
Two CU players made Colorado tennis history on Thursday by advancing to the second round of the Pac-12 Championships. Senior Alex Aiello won her first-round match against USC’s Paige Keating 6-2, 6-2 in the Invitational Draw. Sophomore Kyra Wojcik defeated Utah’s Luisa Gerstner Da Rosa 6-4, 6-4 in the first round, as well.
Both Aiello and Wojcik lost in the Round of 16 to California’s Karla Popovic and USC’s Gabby Smith, but ended their season on a positive note.
Colorado junior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz was the Buffs’ top performer heading into the competition at No. 120 in the country in singles play. Ruiz almost upset Stanford’s No. 40 Taylor Davidson, but lost 6-7 (8), 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Thursday in the Round of 32.
CU freshman Annabelle Adrinopoulos and sophomore Jeannez Daniel both lost in the Round of 32 as well, 6-3, 6-3 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
On Friday, Colorado finished 2-2 in singles play after losing two doubles matches, which eliminated them from doubles play. Daniel and Ruiz lost 6-3 to ASU’s Alexandra Osborne and Emily Panoho, the No. 22 ranked doubles team in the country.
CU’s Adrinopoulos and Aiello fell to Utah’s Alexia Petrovic and Sarah Richter 6-3 in the Invitational Draw. This was the first time these two were paired together due to a recent injury from freshman Brigitte Beck that forced her to withdraw from the competition.
Colorado ended the day competing in the singles consolation matches. Ruiz defeated Arizona’s Shayne Austin 6-3, 6-1, and Daniel routed California’s Audrey Mayer 6-2, 6-4. Andrinopoulos fell to Utah’s Sarah Richter 7-6 (4), 6-2, and Wojcik lost to Washington State’s Victoria Matejevic 6-2, 7-6 (4).
The Buffaloes finished their 2015-2016 on Friday at the Pac-12 Championships with some positive notes going into next season. “It’s always good for a player to finish on a high note for the year,” head coach Nicole Kenneally stated. “As we look into the summer and next year, we continue to see what we need to work on.”
Aiello is the only senior on the roster for the Buffs. She finished ranked No. 36 in school history both in career singles wins and singles win percentage with 46 wins and .544 (46-37) percentage.
