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UCLA’s Chris Surapol shakes hands with Colorado’s Chad Tsuda after their match on Sat

The UCLA men’s tennis team earned its ticket to the NCAA Sweet 16 on Sunday when it defeated Colorado.

The 4-0 defeat was hard on the Colorado Buffaloes because not only did it mark the end of their season, but it could also be the last match ever played by the program.

“I think there were a lot of emotions in that game, and UCLA managed to take advantage of the nervousness in the doubles,” said Colorado coach Sam Winterbotham, who was named Mountain Region Coach of the Year.

Following financial difficulties, the Athletic Department at the University of Colorado had to review its budget and decided to cut the men’s tennis program.

“We are working to correct structural problems in our operation, and these cuts are necessary in an effort to create a more efficient overall athletic program,” Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn said in a statement,

But it might not be all over just yet. The team was given eight weeks at the end of March to come up with $1 million, which would finance the program for three to five years. A final decision is expected by the end of the week.

“We have already raised $600,000 in the past eight weeks, and money keeps coming in,” Winterbotham said. “At this moment, nothing is definite.”

College tennis is not the most popular sport in the country, but it has brought great champions to a professional level and has offered fantastic sporting competition throughout the years. However, Colorado’s misfortune is not an isolated problem in the sport.

“The fact that their program might disappear does not affect college tennis drastically, but it is the trend that scares all of us,” UCLA coach Billy Martin said.

About three tennis programs have disappeared each year in the recent past, all for different reasons. Although the Colorado Athletic Department chose men’s tennis for financial reasons, other issues are linked to the decision as well.

“I think it has a lot to do with Title IX, because we are probably one of the least expensive sports at the college level,” Martin said.

If the program were to disappear, the University of Colorado would be left with the minimum amount of 16 sports required to remain in NCAA Division I, something coach Winterbotham finds regrettable.

“Personally, I think that a great university like Colorado should have more than the minimum,” Winterbotham said.

For the players, the end of the tennis team would mean the end of college life as they know it. Although all scholarships would be honored, some players would transfer to other schools in order to keep playing, while others would remain at Colorado.

“I think I would miss my teammates the most,” UCLA men’s tennis player and junior Chris Surapol said. “As an athlete you spend most of your time at college with your teammates, and it is unlikely you would transfer with someone from your team.”

Colorado senior Chad Tsuda played in doubles and singles against Surapol, a player he has known and been friends with since the junior level of the sport. Surapol’s victory brought a third point for the Bruins, and it also ended Tsuda’s college tennis career for good.

“I saw him looking around before match point and probably thinking this was his last,” Surapol said. “I felt for him.”

But if the Buffaloes’ second-round defeat to the Bruins does end up their last match, it will have been a great one.

“I think our players did very well here; it is just tough to come up against such a great team,” Winterbotham said.