After beating the United States Air Force Academy April 22, the Colorado State University women’s tennis team wasn’t so lucky the second time around, losing 4-3.

The format during the conference tournament is the same as any dual, where the winner is the first to reach 4 team points. The three doubles matches all count as one collective team point, while the six individual singles matches all count for 1 point each.

For the doubles matches, the winner is the first to win two of the three games, with the requirement to win by two sets. However, if both teams are still tied, then a 7-point tiebreaker will be used instead.

The Rams and Falcons split the first two doubles matches, with the All-Mountain West duo Radka Buzkova and Emily Dush winning 6-3 in the No. 1 doubles for CSU. The Falcons then snatched a point, winning the deciding No. 2 game with a 7-4 tiebreaker win.

On the singles side, six matches are played, and the winner must be the first to reach two sets.

Colorado State responded with three straight singles wins to take a 3-1 lead during the match. These were quick sweeps from Zara Lennon (6-3, 6-2), Sarah Weekley (6-2, 7-5) and Buzkova (6-4, 6-0).  These types of wins have become typical for Buzkova and Lennon, who earned singles honors on the All-Mountain West team.

But the Rams couldn’t close out the win, losing the last three singles matches as Air Force snuck away with the victory.

This will close CSU’s season, as they finished with a 16-8 record for their second consecutive winning season under head coach Mai-Ly Tran. 

With only two graduating members, Colorado State hopes to return many of their members for more wins during the 2023-24 season.

Reach Dylan Heinrich at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dylanrheinrich.