Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Jake Mauff at Jacob.Mauff@colorado.edu.
It was a tough weekend for the Colorado women’s tennis team. They hosted two ranked opponents, No. 20 UCLA and No. 27 USC. After a tough road trip, the Buffs still only have one conference win to their seven loses and stand at 6-13 this season.
The first opponent, the UCLA Bruins, certainly proved their rank with a 6-1 win on Friday. Doubles play saw the Buffs drop their first two sets. This gave UCLA a 1-0 advantage going into singles competition. Colorado remains winless in doubles competition since conference play began.
Singles play was equally tough to the Buffs. UCLA boasted the No.18-ranked player in senior Catherine Harrison. She faced off as the team’s number one spot, going up against CU’s junior Nuria Ormeño Ruiz. Ormeño Ruiz was ranked No. 47 going into the match. It didn’t help her. Harrison proved too tough and won her match, 6-0, 6-1.
There was a bright spot for Colorado on Friday. Playing the number five spot, sophomore Kyra Wojcik got her first Pac-12 win of her career. She won 6-2, 2-6, (10-3).
Sunday wasn’t much better for the Buffs. Against the USC women of Troy, the Buffs lost 6-1 again. In another repeat of Friday, the only person to win a match was Wojick.
However, it wasn’t by Wojick’s own game. Her opponent, No. 106 freshman Rianna Valdes, retired from her match.
Ormeño Ruiz faced another ranked opponent, squaring off against No. 22 senior Giuliana Olmos. Like Friday, it was too much for CU’s number one spot. She fell 7-6 (4), 6-2.
“It’s one of those things where we just got to keep working,” head coach Nicole Kenneally said. “You got to keep looking to have that mentality . . . and the easy thing would be to say, ‘Hey, look, we’re not it,’ but that’s not the case.”
Colorado will travel to Oregon this next week, playing the No. 38 Oregon Ducks and non-conference opponent the Portland Pilots.
