MU tennis takes two weekend matches
The Missouri women’s tennis team snapped its five-match losing streak with two decisive victories over the weekend. The Tigers defeated West Virginia by a score of 6-1 and Houston 7-0 and improved its record on the season to 5-8.
The Tigers began the home dual against West Virginia Saturday afternoon at the Green Tennis Center. Getting off to a fast start, the Tigers managed to take the doubles point with wins at the top two doubles positions. The 8-6 victory at No. 1 by Missouri juniors Kaitlyn Ritchie and Mallory Weber proved to be the clincher after West Virginia took a win at the No. 3 doubles spot.
After taking doubles in a nail-biter, the Tigers went on a tear in singles play. Missouri won five of its six singles matches Saturday with its only loss coming at the No. 1 position. The lone Mountaineers win by senior Stephanie LaFortune came in an epic three set battle with Ritchie.
The following day, the Tigers managed to take the momentum from Saturday’s victory into their tilt with Houston. With little resistance, the Tigers scored their second shutout victory of the season in their final non-conference matchup of the year.
With the conclusion of its non-conference schedule, the Tigers delve into a Big 12 schedule they have been preparing for all season long. Coach Blake Starkey believes that his team’s tough non-conference schedule will help his team succeed as it enters play in an extremely competitive conference.
“You do everything you can to give yourself an opportunity when you get into conference,” Starkey said. “I feel very confident that if we had played a bunch of cupcake matches, we wouldn’t have done ourselves any favors when it came time to play in conference.”
The Tigers are set to visit Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., on Friday and Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., on Sunday.