Women’s Tennis Falls to Colorado

Box Score

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – After clinching the doubles point in dramatic fashion, the Air Force women's tennis team ultimately fell 5-2 at the hands of Colorado.

On court two in doubles, Abby Cotuna and Isabella Flodin struck first, defeating Mila Stanojevic/Elys Ventura, 6-2 behind a hot start, taking the first four games of the set and threatening a shutout before Colorado (2-0) could answer. With the win, Cotuna/Flodin improved to 2-0 in the Falcon duo's first pair of career matches.

Sydney Fitch and Alexis Odom, down by as much as 4-1 in their set against Antonia Balzert/Aya El Sayed, rallied to win five-straight games on the way to a 6-4 victory, clinching the Falcons' second doubles point in as many matches.
On court six in singles, freshman Arianna Van Houweling defeated CU's Ellen Puzak, 6-1, 6-3, claiming a straight-set win in back-to-back days.

On line one, Fitch battled it out with Balzert for three sets after taking the second at 6-4, but ultimately fell in the third, 6-1.

Andrea Le, facing Betina Tokac on the fifth flight, split the first two sets with her opponent before falling 10-6 in the super tiebreaker.

Words From Head Coach Kim Gidley:
"I was so impressed with the small adjustments the team made today coming off a tough first match yesterday. As a coach, you want to see your team get right back up after being knocked down, and that is exactly what you saw this team do today against a very strong Colorado team.

It was a tough week for us, as five of our eight players were sick throughout the week. This group never complained and stepped up to the challenge. In the doubles portion of the match, we played even better than yesterday. It was a dominant showing from Izzy and Abby at No. 2 and then Syd & Lex stayed the course at No. 1, fighting back from a 4-1 deficit to clinch the doubles point.

"We saw a lot more energy from the team today in singles and that is what the coaching staff wanted to see. The fight was there and now we just need to continue to make small adjustments."

Next up, the Falcons (0-2) are off to Grand Forks, N.D. to face Creighton (Jan. 28) and host North Dakota (Jan. 29).

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Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Abby Cotuna

Sydney Fitch

Isabella Flodin

Andrea Le

Alexis Odom

Arianna Van Houweling

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