Women's Tennis 2/4/2023 10:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Bronchos Drop Season Opener

DENTON, Texas – Central Oklahoma opened the 2023 season Saturday with a Division I opponent in North Texas and came back with a 7-0 defeat.

The match was close enough the score could have flipped to 4-3, but the Bronchos just came up short in the opener.

"We made a good first step today toward the rest of the season," UCO head women's tennis coach Joe Vann said. "We are young and improving. It was close, we just missed on a few matches that could've turned it."

North Texas took the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 3, while the Bronchos were leading at the No. 2 position. The Mean Green then swept singles play with a dominant top half of the lineup.

Central Oklahoma will make their home debut next week with a pair of matches against some Lone Star Conference schools in Edmond. UCO is hosting UT Tyler Friday at 6:30 p.m. and No. 19 Angelo State Saturday at 4 p.m. Both matches will be held at Edmond Center Court.

Fourth-ranked Nikki Boyar and Blythe Buntrock dropped a 6-1 decision at the top spot in the lineup Saturday afternoon. Freshmen Pete Komada and Nefeli Zaferi lost 6-4 at the third doubles position. At No. 2 doubles, Karyna Yurchenko and Tizia Brocks had a 5-4 lead when the match ended.

In singles play, Yurchenko pushed North Texas to a tiebreaker in the second set before narrowly falling. Brocks won the only set of the match at No. 6 singles, taking a one-set lead before falling in a third-set tiebreaker.

Here are Saturday's complete results:
Doubles
Adams/Morais, UNT, def. Boyar/Buntrock, 6-1
Malm/Stadfany, UNT, vs. Yurchenko/Brocks, unfinished
Zhou/Adati, UNT def. Komada/Zaferi, 6-4
Singles
Adams, UNT, def. Komada, 6-0, 6-2
Morais, UNT, def. Buntrock, 6-1, 6-1
Malm, UNT, def. Zaferi, 6-1, 6-0
Zhou, UNT, def. Boyar, 6-0, 6-4
Stadfany, UNT, def. Yurchenko, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
Adati, UNT, def. Brocks, 5-7, 6-2, 10-8

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Players Mentioned

Nikki Boyar: 5' 2"; Graduate Student

Tizia Brocks: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Blythe Buntrock: 5' 8"; Junior

Pete Komada: 5' 5"; Freshman

Karyna Yurchenko: 5' 6"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Nikki Boyar
: 5' 2"; Graduate Student

Tizia Brocks
: 5' 9"; Graduate Student

Blythe Buntrock
: 5' 8"; Junior

Pete Komada
: 5' 5"; Freshman

Karyna Yurchenko
: 5' 6"; Freshman