Missouri tennis grabs first victory over Fresno State
After suffering a tough defeat against Georgia on Friday, the Missouri women’s tennis rebounded by beating No. 66 Fresno State by a score of 5-2 on Saturday.
In the No. 1 slot, Fresno State's Marianne Jodoin defeated Missouri senior Nina Pantic (6-2, 4-6 and 6-3).
In No. 2 singles, Missouri junior Maria Christensen prevailed over Laura Pola (6-1 and 6-0).
Missouri also won in No. 3 singles, as freshman Alex Clark beat Olga Kirpicheva (1-6, 6-3 and 6-1).
And in No. 4 singles, facing Melissa McQueen, Missouri sophomore Rachel Stuhlmann was victorious (6-3 and 6-2). Stuhlmann has won five of her first six matches to start the season.
As she did in her defeat at the hands of Georgia's Kate Fuller on Friday, Missouri senior Jamie Mera, playing in the No. 5 slot, once again played into a third set tiebreaker, this time against Tanya Murtagh. Mera won (6-4, 3-6, 1-0 and 10-3).
In No. 6 singles, Missouri junior Annemijn Koenen was forced to retire due to injury while facing Bianca Modec (6-0, 3-2, retired).
In No. 1 doubles, Missouri's Pantic and Stuhlman managed to pull out a close victory against Fresno State's Pola and Kirpicheva (8-6).
In the No. 2 doubles position, Fresno State's Jodoin and Murtagh beat Missouri's Clark and Mera (8-3).
And in the No. 3 doubles slot, Missouri's Christensen and Koenen won against Fresno State's Agrawal and McQueen (8-3).
Missouri coach Sasha Schmid said the team had placed a great deal of emphasis on its doubles matches.
“We have been working hard on doubles so it was great to see the team execute well to win the doubles matches,” Schmid said.
The Tigers' victory is their first on the young season, giving them a record of 1-2. The team hopes to have two victories in a row after they face Arkansas-Fort Smith on Saturday in the Green Tennis Center.