Ania Anuskiewicz returns the ball to the Oregon Ducks during a doubles match on Friday, Feb. 18, 2011. (CU Independent/Kelly Kaoudis)
The Buffs tennis team almost rallied to a win, but was unable to hold back the Oregon Ducks.
Losing 4-3 on Friday afternoon at the Meadows Club in Boulder, the Buffs lost the first three points of the match, leaving them no choice but to try for a comeback.
OU started the match by winning two out of three doubles points, taking the lead 1-0.
The Ducks then increased their lead at the singles slots. At the No.1 position, CU senior Abbie Probert lost to Oregon’s Pavlina Smatova, 6-2, 6-2. Buffs junior Michala Hedelund Jensen then fell short of her 40th career singles victory in a loss to OU’s Patricia Skowronski, 6-1, 6-4 at the No.2 position.
The Buffs, then at a 3-0 deficit, didn’t give up.
At the No.3, 4 and 5 positions respectively, freshman Kristina Schleich, junior Ania Anuszkiewicz and freshman Winde Janssens won their matches. Schleich defeated OU’s Julia Metzger, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8), Anuszkiewicz overcame Rabea Stuckemann, 6-4, 6-3, and Jansenns beat out Pascale Neubert, 6-2, 6-2.
With the overall score even at 3-3, Colorado was back in the game.
It all came down to the final match. At the No.6 position, freshman Carla Manzi Tenorio took on OU’s freshman Lana Buttner. Tenorio lost the first of three sets, 6-3. She then defeated Buttner in the second set, 6-1, but Buttner held on in the final set, winning the match 6-2. The match was Tenorio’s first three set match of the spring season.
Head Coach Nicole Kenneally was disappointed by Tenorio’s loss, but remained optimistic about the match as a whole.
“[It was] a valuable learning experience for Carla,” Kenneally said in a news release. “Over the course of time she can remember what it is like in that situation.”
The Buffs’ record now stands at 2-3 for the spring season. They return to the Meadows Club this Saturday to take on the New Mexico Lobos at 10 a.m.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Caryn Maconi Caryn.maconi@colorado.edu.
