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Rams Close Out Fall With Win Over Rival
11/6/2022 12:48:00 PM | Women's Tennis
Buzkova wins “hidden” clincher with Colorado
DENVER, Colo. – Technically, it was a hidden dual. The intent was crystal clear, however.
"One hundred percent. It's so nice to beat them twice," Radka Buzkova said. "We wanted to prove we're a better team than them. It just shows Rams are better than Buffs."
With no dual scheduled this season, Colorado State's women's tennis team's only crack at Colorado was in Sunday's final day of the Colorado Cup, hosted by Denver. While the tournament at the Denver Tennis Park was set up like a dual would be in the spring, it isn't scored as such; there would be no official winner, just the opportunity to get in some more matches, which is what the fall tournament season is set up to accomplish. Normally in the fall, in these types of formats, a team will play doubles against one opponent, singles against another.
Not this weekend, and it carried more of a team feel as a result.
For the first time in their history, the Rams beat the Buffs in Boulder a year ago, 4-2. This time around, the unofficial result was 4-3, and the decisive point came about in an eerily similar fashion with Radka Buzkova on the court, this time facing Aya El Sayed, a newcomer to the Colorado lineup.
Colorado State won two of the three doubles matches, with Buzkova and Emily Dush taking a 6-1 decision, while Ky Ecton and Zara Lennon won 6-4. The early flow from singles was all Colorado State, as Lennon and Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya both won in straight sets – Lennon 6-2, 6-2 over Ellen Puzak; Zhadzinskaya 6-1, 6-3 over Anya Nelson.
Zhadzinskaya was the first off the court, and the junior college transfer was one of the main exhibits of what the fall is all about for CSU coach Mai-Ly Tran. Zhadzinskaya had no Division I experience, and neither did freshman Luana Avelar. Sarah Weekley was in much the same boat, having only played 10 singles matches last spring.
All three of them won a pair of matches during the weekend, with Weekley leading the team this fall with 12 singles win, Zhadzinskaya 11 and Avelar seven.
"If we had decisions to put anybody in, trying to get the newcomers as many matches as possible was it," Tran said. "Day to day you could see the response. I think we got a lot of experience this fall, which is great to see. That's what you want."
All fall she spent mixing and matching doubles pairings, and more of that work will take place in the lead in to the first dual of the spring season, Jan. 28 at the same site against the Pioneers. Hitting some singles points individually will be part of the program, too.
Due to injury, Ky Ecton and Zara Lennon were the only two members of the team not to get in at least 10 fall singles matches, but both of them have experience. Overall, Tran exits the fall with enhanced expectations of those she already held.
"I knew, but the fall confirmed we have a lot of potential. Our goal of getting better throughout the fall was great, but we obviously have a lot to work on individually and learning how to enjoy the game and focus on the tennis piece," she said. "I think we have a great team, and I'm looking forward to more moments like this in the spring, and we've set ourselves up really well. It's going to take a lot of work and preparation for that."
In the instance of Zhadzinskaya, a lot of the questions she had about herself and her abilities at this level have been answered, the results have led her to an incredibly positive place.
Sunday's straight-sets win only emboldened her confidence even more, having played a host of tough opponents. Through those matches, she feels she's gained a trust in her game and what she can accomplish if she continues to stick to the plan.
"For sure. I feel even more confident. I got a lot of matches with good players, and I had some losses as well, but they will help me to get better," Zhadzinskaya said. "I still have things to work on. For sure, I need to remember every time I step on the court to focus on my game, not the game of my opponent. I just need to do my thing because I have my style. I have to play more aggressive coming to the net instead of just keep hitting it every time and trusting it. I felt before I wasn't, that I didn't have the realization of a plan every time I stepped on the court. Now I know exactly what to do and keep doing it, but if it's not working, sometimes you have to go to Plan B."
But for one day of the fall, the significance of the opponent carried a bit more weight. Buzkova felt it, she just didn't realize she was in the moment once again. On the first court, there were no flashbacks for her as she traded the first two sets with El Sayed.
She didn't realize as she was battling back to win the second set 7-6 after dropping the first 6-4 her team's hopes were coming down to her. Both rosters lined the adjacent court, switching sides as the players did. What they saw was a different match than the way it began, because El Sayed was hitting spots consistently with power.
"She was just killing me. I was kinda trying to get into a rhythm, because yesterday my match never got into a rhythm, so I wasn't feeling well in match play," Buzkova said. "She was just hitting winners, so I was like, OK, if she's going to keep hitting winners, then good for her, but I had it in my mind it's probably going to change if I stayed solid. I tried to fight, and it worked."
She was down in the second set, but came back to force a third, which would be played in a 10-point format, not a full set. In such a compact space, the mind has to be right.
When she needed a reminder, assistant coach Scott Langs was there to refresh her memory. It worked, as she blazed out to a 7-3 lead, eventually wrapping it up with a 10-5 advantage.
"I was just reminding myself the strategy I have to play against her, and Scott was doing a good job of reminding me that too after every point," she said. "Big credit to him. Mentally, I was really present. I was enjoying everybody was watching. I really don't know what's on my mind."
Understandable, because at the close of what really was a slugfest between the team's two best players, both were exhausted, slowly moving to the net to congratulate each other on a match well played. And when Buzkova turned to her team, it was a subdued jubilation being displayed, showing respect to the format as it was set up.
But deep down, the elation was there. The Rams just had to button it up a bit. And eventually, Buzkova would realize exactly what was going on, and she didn't mind it coming down to her once again.
"It's crazy," she said with a grin. "Just some things happen twice in your life."
Results
Doubles
Aya El Sayed/Antonia Balzert, CU, d. Sarka Richterova/Vika Zhadzinskaya, 6-4
Radka Buzkova/Emily Dush d. Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura, CU, 6-1
Ky Ecton/Zara Lennon d. Ellen Puzak/Carrie Hayes, CU, 6-4
Singles
Buzkova vs. El Sayed 4-6, 7-6, 10-5
Balzert d. Dush 7-6, 6-2
Ventura d. Richterova 7-6, 6-2
Stanojevic d. Weekley 7-6 (4), 6-3
Lennon d. Puzak 6-2. 6-2
Zhadzinskaya d. Anya Nelson, 6-1, 6-3
"One hundred percent. It's so nice to beat them twice," Radka Buzkova said. "We wanted to prove we're a better team than them. It just shows Rams are better than Buffs."
With no dual scheduled this season, Colorado State's women's tennis team's only crack at Colorado was in Sunday's final day of the Colorado Cup, hosted by Denver. While the tournament at the Denver Tennis Park was set up like a dual would be in the spring, it isn't scored as such; there would be no official winner, just the opportunity to get in some more matches, which is what the fall tournament season is set up to accomplish. Normally in the fall, in these types of formats, a team will play doubles against one opponent, singles against another.
Not this weekend, and it carried more of a team feel as a result.
For the first time in their history, the Rams beat the Buffs in Boulder a year ago, 4-2. This time around, the unofficial result was 4-3, and the decisive point came about in an eerily similar fashion with Radka Buzkova on the court, this time facing Aya El Sayed, a newcomer to the Colorado lineup.
Colorado State won two of the three doubles matches, with Buzkova and Emily Dush taking a 6-1 decision, while Ky Ecton and Zara Lennon won 6-4. The early flow from singles was all Colorado State, as Lennon and Viktoryia Zhadzinskaya both won in straight sets – Lennon 6-2, 6-2 over Ellen Puzak; Zhadzinskaya 6-1, 6-3 over Anya Nelson.
Zhadzinskaya was the first off the court, and the junior college transfer was one of the main exhibits of what the fall is all about for CSU coach Mai-Ly Tran. Zhadzinskaya had no Division I experience, and neither did freshman Luana Avelar. Sarah Weekley was in much the same boat, having only played 10 singles matches last spring.
All three of them won a pair of matches during the weekend, with Weekley leading the team this fall with 12 singles win, Zhadzinskaya 11 and Avelar seven.
"If we had decisions to put anybody in, trying to get the newcomers as many matches as possible was it," Tran said. "Day to day you could see the response. I think we got a lot of experience this fall, which is great to see. That's what you want."
All fall she spent mixing and matching doubles pairings, and more of that work will take place in the lead in to the first dual of the spring season, Jan. 28 at the same site against the Pioneers. Hitting some singles points individually will be part of the program, too.
Due to injury, Ky Ecton and Zara Lennon were the only two members of the team not to get in at least 10 fall singles matches, but both of them have experience. Overall, Tran exits the fall with enhanced expectations of those she already held.
"I knew, but the fall confirmed we have a lot of potential. Our goal of getting better throughout the fall was great, but we obviously have a lot to work on individually and learning how to enjoy the game and focus on the tennis piece," she said. "I think we have a great team, and I'm looking forward to more moments like this in the spring, and we've set ourselves up really well. It's going to take a lot of work and preparation for that."
In the instance of Zhadzinskaya, a lot of the questions she had about herself and her abilities at this level have been answered, the results have led her to an incredibly positive place.
Sunday's straight-sets win only emboldened her confidence even more, having played a host of tough opponents. Through those matches, she feels she's gained a trust in her game and what she can accomplish if she continues to stick to the plan.
"For sure. I feel even more confident. I got a lot of matches with good players, and I had some losses as well, but they will help me to get better," Zhadzinskaya said. "I still have things to work on. For sure, I need to remember every time I step on the court to focus on my game, not the game of my opponent. I just need to do my thing because I have my style. I have to play more aggressive coming to the net instead of just keep hitting it every time and trusting it. I felt before I wasn't, that I didn't have the realization of a plan every time I stepped on the court. Now I know exactly what to do and keep doing it, but if it's not working, sometimes you have to go to Plan B."
But for one day of the fall, the significance of the opponent carried a bit more weight. Buzkova felt it, she just didn't realize she was in the moment once again. On the first court, there were no flashbacks for her as she traded the first two sets with El Sayed.
She didn't realize as she was battling back to win the second set 7-6 after dropping the first 6-4 her team's hopes were coming down to her. Both rosters lined the adjacent court, switching sides as the players did. What they saw was a different match than the way it began, because El Sayed was hitting spots consistently with power.
"She was just killing me. I was kinda trying to get into a rhythm, because yesterday my match never got into a rhythm, so I wasn't feeling well in match play," Buzkova said. "She was just hitting winners, so I was like, OK, if she's going to keep hitting winners, then good for her, but I had it in my mind it's probably going to change if I stayed solid. I tried to fight, and it worked."
She was down in the second set, but came back to force a third, which would be played in a 10-point format, not a full set. In such a compact space, the mind has to be right.
When she needed a reminder, assistant coach Scott Langs was there to refresh her memory. It worked, as she blazed out to a 7-3 lead, eventually wrapping it up with a 10-5 advantage.
"I was just reminding myself the strategy I have to play against her, and Scott was doing a good job of reminding me that too after every point," she said. "Big credit to him. Mentally, I was really present. I was enjoying everybody was watching. I really don't know what's on my mind."
Understandable, because at the close of what really was a slugfest between the team's two best players, both were exhausted, slowly moving to the net to congratulate each other on a match well played. And when Buzkova turned to her team, it was a subdued jubilation being displayed, showing respect to the format as it was set up.
But deep down, the elation was there. The Rams just had to button it up a bit. And eventually, Buzkova would realize exactly what was going on, and she didn't mind it coming down to her once again.
"It's crazy," she said with a grin. "Just some things happen twice in your life."
Results
Doubles
Aya El Sayed/Antonia Balzert, CU, d. Sarka Richterova/Vika Zhadzinskaya, 6-4
Radka Buzkova/Emily Dush d. Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura, CU, 6-1
Ky Ecton/Zara Lennon d. Ellen Puzak/Carrie Hayes, CU, 6-4
Singles
Buzkova vs. El Sayed 4-6, 7-6, 10-5
Balzert d. Dush 7-6, 6-2
Ventura d. Richterova 7-6, 6-2
Stanojevic d. Weekley 7-6 (4), 6-3
Lennon d. Puzak 6-2. 6-2
Zhadzinskaya d. Anya Nelson, 6-1, 6-3
Team Stats
# Doubles Match
# Singles Match
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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