No. 20 Notre Dame deals Irish 6-1 defeat
The Missouri women's tennis team came ready to compete in its match against Notre Dame on Sunday in South Bend, Ind., but six consecutive wins to end the day for the No. 20 Irish downed the Tigers 6-1.
Missouri senior Nika Pantic had the lone win for the Tigers, beating Kristy Frilling in a No. 1 singles game 6-3 and 6-1.
"In singles, we settled into the match, and it was very competitive and close on every court in singles," coach Sasha Schmid said.
The Irish had an answer for every other Missouri attack Sunday.
Missouri junior Maria Christensen squared off against Notre Dame senior Shannon Matthews at No. 2 singles in two sets. After spotting Matthews a 2-0 lead in the first set, Christensen rattled off four wins to seize control at 4-2. She was unable to seal the win, though, and Matthews won the first set 7-5.
Matthews ultimately came back to take the second set and match 6-4.
"We played a very good Notre Dame team," Schmid said. "Overall, (this was) a solid first match for our team. We are proud of our effort today but not satisfied. (We are) going to work hard this week."
At No. 3 singles, Notre Dame sophomore Jennifer Kellner won against freshman Alex Clark 6-3 and 6-1.
Rachel Stuhlman claimed her first set at No. 4 singles against Notre Dame's Britney Sanders 6-3, but Sanders came back to take the last two sets 6-3 and 7-5.
Missouri's Jamie Mera then took on Chrissie McGaffigan at No. 5 singles but lost the match 7-5, 4-6 and 6-4.
Missouri junior Annemijn Koenen lost to Julie Sabacinski at No. 6 singles, falling 6-4, 7-6 and 7-5.
During the doubles sets, Frilling and Matthews prevailed over Stuhlmann and Pantic 8-1, while the Tigers' Mera and Clark lost to the Irish's Sanders and Katherine White, going down 8-2.
Kellner and McGaffigan then finished the match by beating Christensen and Koenen (8-2).
Missouri's chance for its first victory of the season will be against Georgia at 1 p.m. Friday in Athens, Ga.