First win over top-15 team in 9 years
The Colorado women’s tennis team upset the Baylor Bears on Sunday afternoon at the Millennium Harvest House.
CU, ranked 47th in the country, took down the 14th-ranked Bears by a final score of 5-2. The win was the first over a top-15 opponent for Colorado head coach Nicole Kenneally.
“We had a tough loss on Friday against BYU, and I told the girls that the good teams come back and play well whether they have a close loss or a tough win,” Kenneally said. “My challenge to the team was to come out here today and compete our butts off, and that’s what they did.”
In No. 1 singles play, CU sophomore Monica Milewski won her fifth-straight match, beating Baylor’s Zuzana Cerna 6-4, 6-4. In doubles, Melisa Esposito and Martina Sedivec continued their undefeated spring season by beating their opponents 8-6. In the match that clinched the team victory, CU junior Gleisy Torres Torres took the singles point by a score of 7-6 (1), 6-3.
“It was a great win because I have been working really hard,” Torres Torres said. “We played a great opponent here today with nothing to lose, so we came out and got it.”
With the victory, CU improves to 7-3 on the season and 3-0 in the Big 12. It is the first time in school history the Buffs have won their first three matches in conference play. The win marks the first time that CU has beaten Baylor since April 25, 2003, in the Big 12 Tournament.
Last Friday, the Buffs dropped a close match against BYU by a final score of 4-3. Torres Torres dropped both of her matches in that loss, but rebounded nicely with the deciding point today.
“After Friday, I said to myself that I can beat anybody, and I can’t be afraid,” Torres Torres said. “I know the team needs me, so I just went out there and gave it my all.”
The victory against the Bears was CU’s first win over a top-15 team since April 1998. That win came in the Big 12 Tournament against the Kansas Jayhawks.
“We have to keep working hard,” Kenneally said. “This isn’t the end of the season, and we still have a lot of good matches with good teams ahead of us.”
CU will return to action on the road Saturday against the Missouri Tigers.
Contact staff writer Ben Dignan at Benjamin.Dignan@thecampuspress.com.
