Posts tagged Washington
CU tennis is building a head of steam with recent victories
Apr 2nd
CU is in the ITA College Tennis Rankings for the first time in the regular season since April 2010.
The Buffaloes, ranked No. 75, join nine other Pac-12 Conference teams in the rankings. Colorado holds a 7-11 overall, 2-5 Pac-12 record, tying for sixth in conference standings. With three matches left in the season, the Buffs have already matched their 2011-12 win total. 
“It’s exciting for the program, and it’s exciting for the players,” CU head coach Nicole Kenneally said. “It’s been a few years since we’ve been included in the national rankings. I think it’s a testament to all the hard work the players have put in during the fall semester and in this spring semester. It shows their continued engagement in the process of learning and getting better in every match and every practice. I’m excited for the program.”
The most recently the Buffs have been ranked in the regular season was when they concluded the 2009-10 regular season against No. 19 Texas. The Buffs went into the match ranked No. 68 and finished the season with an 11-13 overall, 3-8 Big 12 record and a No. 72 ranking.
The Buffs have marked several milestones this year. They earned their first ever Pac-12 win on March 10 with a 4-2 win over Arizona, breaking a 26-match regular season conference losing streak. This season, the Buffs have taken down two out of eight ranked opponents. CU beat No. 62 Stephen F. Austin 6-1 on February 2, marking their first win over a ranked opponent since the then-ranked No. 55 Buffs defeated No. 71 Denver on February 1, 2010.
After facing a tough stretch versus ranked Pac-12 teams, the Buffs got a big win over No. 59 Oregon last weekend. The 5-2 victory over the Ducks marks the highest ranked opponent the Buffs have defeated since beating then-ranked No. 46 New Mexico on February 7, 2009. All nine of CU’s most recent opponents have either been ranked, had at least one ranked player or both (as is the case for six of the teams, including Oregon). Of the teams the Buffs have faced this season, 11 hold a place the current rankings, with five ranked in the top 25.
The Buffs conclude their regular season against stiff competition. CU takes on No. 70 Washington State at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 5 and No. 45 Washington at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 7. They end the season against No. 63 Utah at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 20. All matches will be held at the CU South Campus Tennis Complex unless weather moves play indoors.
CU media release
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CU women’s tennis gets an historical win
Mar 29th
BOULDER – The CU women won their second game against a PAC 12 opponent in three years..
“I’m really proud of the players,” CU head coach Nicole Kenneally said. “We came out and competed. It’s been a tough couple of weeks of competition that we’ve had, playing the top four schools in our conference, who were really, really tough. I think we all learned from that, and it really helped us today. I think they really bounced back well. We’ve got three more teams coming into town over the next couple of weeks and we look forward to having those teams here.”
The Buffaloes pick up their first win over a ranked opponent since taking down No. 62 Stephen F. Austin 6-1 on February 2. This marks the highest ranked opponent the Buffs have defeated since beating then-ranked No. 46 New Mexico on February 7, 2009. All nine of CU’s most recent opponents have either been ranked, had at least one ranked player or both (as is the case for six of the teams, including Oregon). The Buffs are now 2-6 against ranked opponents this season, and an impressive 5-2 at home, opening home outdoor play against the Ducks.
“It means something when players don’t necessarily play their best and still win and find a way,” Kenneally said. “I think we did that in several positions today in singles and doubles. That’s what I’m most proud of because it just shows that mentally they’ve taken a step forward, which is great.”
Colorado improves to 7-11 overall, 2-5 Pac-12, matching last year’s overall win total, and marking the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Buffs won at least two conference matches. Oregon, having been ranked in the ITA top-75 in all but two matches this spring, falls to 11-5, 1-4 Pac-12. CU leads the overall series 10-6.
The Buffs sprang into action early, taking the doubles point. The freshman duo of Dhany Quevedo and Mazy Watrous got its first ever win as a pair, besting Hughes/Hager 8-1. Juniors Winde Janssens and Carla Manzi Tenorio continue to be a power for the Buffs, earning their 10th win together this season with an 8-5 win over Metzger/Neubert.
After facing seven straight ranked opponents, Julyette Steur claimed a win over the eighth, defeating No. 102 Nicole Long, who has lost only twice this spring, 6-1, 6-1 for her 14th win of the season. All but one of her wins this spring have been in straight sets. The victory was Steur’s first over a ranked opponent since she beat then-ranked No. 104 McCall Jones of UCLA on March 23, 2012.
Janssens and Manzi Tenorio each earned their 40th career singles win with victories in straight sets. Janssens bested Patricia Skowronski 6-1, 6-3. Janssens leads the Buffs with 16 wins this season, including four in-conference. Manzi Tenorio got her 14th win of the season and her second over a conference opponent with a solid 6-4, 7-6 win over Lana Buttner.
Senior Erin Sanders once again clinched the match for the Buffs, defeating Pascale Neubert 6-3, 6-3. Sanders now has seven wins this season, including two major conference victories.
The Buffs return to action next weekend as the season draws to a close. CU takes on Washington State at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 5 and Washington at 10 a.m. on Sunday, April 7.
from CU SPORTS PRESS RELEASE!!!
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CU women’s b-ball 25 – 5, facing #4 Stanford tonight in Pac-12 semifinals
Mar 9th
Freshman Jamie Swan’s late game baskets iced the win
Story by B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com
Overcoming a first half of near and sometimes bad misses, fourth-seeded CU finally took control in the final 20 minutes and ousted fifth-seeded Washington 70-59 at KeyArena.
The No. 18 Buffs (25-5) earned a Saturday night date with top-seeded Stanford (29-2) in the Pac-12 semifinals. The No. 4-ranked Cardinal, which defeated the Buffs twice during regular-season play, advanced by disposing of Washington State 79-60 in Friday night’s first game.
Jamee Swan had 15 points and 10 rebounds against Washinton
No. 2 seed California (28-2) and No. 3 seed UCLA (24-6) play in Saturday night’s first semifinal game. The CU-Stanford tip is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. MST (Pac-12 Network).
“There’s only one way to look at a matchup with Stanford, and that’s as an opportunity,” said CU coach Linda Lappe. “We’re going to look at it that way.”
Stanford’s two wins against CU were by 17 points (57-40) in Boulder on the opening weekend of Pac-12 play, then by three points (59-56) at Stanford on January’s last weekend. The Buffs believed they had improved at least that much from the first to the second meeting, and they believe they’re even better now.
They’ll probably need a better start than they had Friday night, when they were forced to overcome a first half that saw them miss 13 of their first 16 field goal attempts and go to their locker room to ponder their 28.9 percent (13-for-45) shooting.
“We knew we had to settle down, quit missing easy shots and quit fouling,” said senior guard Chucky Jeffery, who scored 12 of her game-high 19 points in the second half. “Now we know how the floor feels, the jitters are gone and the first (game) is out of the way. Now it’s about quick memory loss and going on to the next one – and it’s a big one. We want to come out and play better Saturday.”
Lappe used 11 players against UW (20-11) and not only did all of them score, all but one of them collected at least two rebounds and all but two contributed at least one assist. In addition to her 19 points, Jeffery also had a game-best four assists, while freshman forward Jamee Swan scored a career-high 15 points and hauled in 10 of CU’s 58 rebounds – UW had 36 – in her 19 minutes of court time.
“I feel like I played the best I ever played,” said Swan, who also blocked three shots. “It was really nice to be out there and not be afraid and have my teammates behind me.”
All of them were. CU’s bench outscored UW’s 33-18. The Buffs had 25 offensive rebounds to the Huskies’ 13, outscored them 40-18 in the paint and won the second-chance point duel 20-9.
“I like how we crashed the offensive glass,” Lappe said. “We needed to get a lot of extra shots in this game and we did. We showed a lot of resolve in chasing down loose balls to get us extra shots.”
Lappe applauded Swan and freshman guard Kyleesha Weston, who contributed two points and six rebounds in 21 minutes. “I’m really proud of our players,” Lappe said. “I thought we stepped up big at certain times . . . it seemed like whoever we brought into the game, we never missed a beat. That allowed us to get some rest so we could make a push at the end.”
In their 68-61 win over the Huskies last month in Boulder, the Buffs limited the Pac-12’s No. 2 scorer, Jazmine Davis, to nine points. Friday night, Davis got 17 – two below her average. She hit two of UW’s seven three-pointers, which were two more than CU allowed in Boulder and two above Friday night’s goal. U-Dub leads the conference in three-pointers made (8.2 a game). The Huskies’ final two treys Friday night came in the last two minutes when they were trying to cut into a 10-point Buffs lead.
UW got as close as four (63-59) before Jeffery scored five consecutive points – a jumper and three of four free throws – and Swan sank two free throws with 13 seconds left to account for a 7-0 run to close out the game.
The Buffs were up 29-26 at the half, but it took them almost 18 minutes to get their first lead. Blame that on shooting that was somewhere south of frigid. UW led by as many as six points (14-8) before the Buffs finally began finding their range – if they ever did.
Lappe said her team was “really excited to play. I think anytime that’s the case you miss some easy shots . . . but I like how we stayed with it.”
After a Jeffery three-pointer – her team’s only trey of the first half – tied the score at 23-23, she hit a pull-up jumper from the free throw line following a UW turnover to give CU its first lead, 25-23, with 2:41 before intermission.
The final 20 minutes would belong to whoever wanted them, and based on the first 21/2 it appeared that was CU. After scoring the first eight points the Buffs surged to a 37-26 lead and were threatening to rip this one open.
It didn’t happen. Talia Walton’s trey started an 8-0 UW run and Davis’ traditional three-point finished it, pulling the Huskies back to within three (37-34) with 16:09 remaining.
CU went back ahead by as many as seven points on an Ashley Wilson layup and maintained at least a four-point lead until a pair of free throws by Kristi Kingma pulled UW to 45-43 with 10:29 to play.
The Huskies could get no closer. Pulling ahead twice by 10 on a pair of layups by Swan in the final two minutes, the Buffs looked like they could begin making semifinal plans for Saturday.
But three-pointers by Heather Corral and Walton, who finished with 13, closed UW’s deficit to 63-59 with less than a minute left. Jeffery answered with a layup and three of four free throws, and when Swan sank a pair with 13 seconds remaining, those semifinal plans to face Stanford were complete.
“We’ll have to make sure we’re ready and playing really well together,” Lappe said. “They’re the giants of the Pac-12 and we’ve got a shot at them.”
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