Tennis falls to Louisville
The Missouri tennis team dropped its Friday night match to Louisville by a score of 4-3 at the Green Tennis Center.
Despite managing to come out even in singles play, it proved fruitless after the Tigers were swept for the earlier doubles point.
At the No. 1 doubles spot, juniors Mallory Weber and Kaitlyn Ritchie fell by a score of 8-6 to Louisville freshman Mandy Brown and sophomore Sarah Miller. At No. 2 doubles, sophomore Jamie Mera and senior Sofia Ayala had trouble mustering any momentum in an 8-1 loss, and freshman Andrea Lewis and senior Kristen Bleakley fell at No. 3 by a score of 8-4.
Regarding his team’s recent struggles in doubles play, coach Blake Starkey is looking for a solution.
“I really wish I had the answer for it, but I can’t figure it out,” Starkey said. “I think we play a little tight and tentative and that’s something that needs to get better.”
In singles play, freshman Maria Christensen extended her personal winning streak to five matches with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 victory over Louisville sophomore Gabi Duncan. Ayala was also victorious in her return to the lineup at No. 6 singles with a decisive 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Unfortunately for Missouri, the duo had received little help earlier in the evening from the top of the lineup. At No. 1 singles, Louisville’s Miller defeated Mera 6-3, 6-3. At No. 2, Ritchie fell to her earlier doubles opponent, Brown, by a score of 6-4, 6-2.
With Weber’s victory in No. 3 singles and Lewis’ loss at No. 4, the lingering doubles point gave Louisville the victory.
Though acknowledging that his team wasn’t far from winning on Friday, Starkey believes that his team missed an important opportunity.
“We’ve got an SMU team on Sunday that is really tough,” Starkey said. “We need to take care of matches like tonight because they’re some other matches that are going to be really, really tough to win.”
The No. 21 ranked Mustangs will visit the Tigers Sunday at 10 a.m.