Colorado
Mustangs Battle Colorado in NIT Quarterfinals on Wednesday
5/16/2023 2:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis
ATLANTA, Ga. — Making its first postseason appearance in 12 years, Cal Poly women's tennis battles Colorado in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Universal Tennis NIT Championship at noon PST Wednesday at the Peachtree City Tennis Center.
The match, along with the main draw of the tournament, will be aired live on Amazon Prime Video for free for Prime members.
The inaugural eight-team tournament is single elimination, but each team is guaranteed at least two matches with quarterfinal losers getting one extra consolation match.
The last time the Mustangs (14-9 overall) were on the court, they suffered a hard-fought 4-2 defeat to top-seeded Hawai'i in the Big West Championship on April 29 in San Diego. It wasn't the ending Cal Poly was hoping for, but the Mustangs fought until the final point against the Rainbow Wahine and couldn't have finished the season much stronger, winning 13 of their last 17 matches.
Now the Mustangs get a chance at redemption and the ability to write their own ending.
At the Big West Championships, Cal Poly swept UC Davis in the quarterfinals and CSUN in the semifinals 4-0 to secure its third straight trip to the Big West Championship match — a program first. The Matadors and conference foe UC San Diego are both competing in the NIT Championship.
After another historic regular season and conference tournament campaign, the Mustangs received plenty of All-Big West praise two weeks ago.
Graduate student Kim Bhunu led the way, earning All-Big West First Team honors in singles. This season, Bhunu owns a 10-9 overall record at the No. 1 spot and she recorded her first two career singles victories over ranked opponents — defeating Harvard's Charlotte Owensby on March 16 and Hawai'i's Ana Vilcek on March 30.
Bhunu and doubles partner Kennedy Buntrock also grabbed a Second Team All-Conference selection, allowing Bhunu to secure All-Big West honors in singles and doubles for the third straight year and become just the third player in program history to accomplish that feat.
At the No. 2 doubles spot, Bhunu and Buntrock enter the NIT Championship on a seven-match winning streak and with a 13-5 overall record, currently tied for the 10th-most dual victories by a doubles pairing in a season in Division I program history. The tandem also went a perfect 3-0 at the Big West Championships, clinching the doubles point for the Mustangs in all three matches.
Sisters Delanie Dunkle (pictured above) and Peyton Dunkle garnered All-Big West Second Team honors in doubles, posting a 3-0 record at the conference tournament. Cal Poly's No. 1 doubles pairing heads into the postseason with a 14-7 mark, currently tied for the sixth-most dual victories by a doubles pairing in a season in Division I program history.
Peyton earned All-Big West Honorable Mention praise in singles as well, going 11-7 overall and 7-1 at the No. 4 spot. Over her last nine singles matches, Peyton owns a 6-1 record. The sophomore has earned the clinching point for the Mustangs in three duals this year.
Ozerets was named Big West Freshman of the Year and received an Honorable Mention selection in singles to round out the Mustangs' All-Conference accolades. Ozerets is only the second player in program history to be named Big West Freshman of the Year, joining Cal Poly Athletics Hall of Famer Brittany Blalock (2007), and the recognition was well deserved.
Ozerets has a team-best 15-5 singles record this spring, tied for the ninth-most dual singles victories in a season in Division I program history. She is 8-2 at the No. 6 spot this spring.
Buntrock enters the postseason tournament with a 5-0 record over her last six singles matches at the No. 5 spot.
SCOUTING COLORADO: The Buffaloes (12-12, 2-8 Pac-12) enter the NIT Championship as the No. 2 seed. Colorado, ranked No. 62 in the latest ITA team rankings, most recently fell to No. 28 Cal 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament on April 27. During that tournament run, the Buffaloes also made history, defeating No. 59 Oregon 4-2 in their opening match to secure their first Pac-12 tournament win in program history. Colorado is led by junior Aya El Sayed, who is 14-1 at the No. 4 spot this season. The Buffaloes own victories over No. 70 Wyoming and No. 21 Washington this season. This will be the first meeting all-time between the Mustangs and Colorado.
In its last postseason appearance on May 14, 2011, the Mustangs fell to 24th-ranked Oklahoma in the first round of the NCAA Championships.
With a victory against the Buffaloes on Wednesday, Cal Poly would advance to the NIT Championship semifinals Friday and face the winner of No. 3 seed Stetson and CSUN.
You can follow Cal Poly women's tennis on Twitter for live updates throughout the match.
Players Mentioned
