Tennis drops 2 in Texas
Published April 3, 2007
Over the weekend, the Missouri tennis team found disappointment in the Lone Star State as it fell to Texas Tech and Baylor on back-to-back days by a combined score of 13-1. The team has now played six straight road matches. The team is 1-5 in that stretch with the lone win coming against Army on March 25 in West Point, N.Y.
On Saturday in Lubbock, Texas, the Tigers (6-10, 1-7 Big 12) fell to the No. 69 Lady Raiders, 6-1. MU coach Blake Starkey said the team was too exhausted to challenge a rested Texas Tech team.
"We're a tired team right now, and Texas Tech was fresh," he said.
Sophomore Raquel Wagner earned the Tigers' only point of the weekend by beating Lady Raider sophomore Brenna Jackson in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2.
All other MU singles players lost in straight sets.
On Sunday across the state in Waco, Texas, the long weekend got even worse for the Tigers against No. 16 Baylor.
Starkey said his team played better in Waco than they did in Lubbock, but the Bears (13-6, 6-1) were too much for his team.
The Tigers lost six of the day's seven matches in straight sets despite the fact that Baylor held former NCAA champion Zuzana Zemanova out of the lineup for the match. The closest MU came to winning a point was when Kaitlin Dunham won the first set in her match against Iva Mihalova, 6-4. But she was beaten in the second set 6-0 and lost the 10-point tiebreaker 10-8.
Starkey said he hopes to use the final four matches of the season, all at home, to build confidence before the Big 12 Championship in Kansas City. But that will require more stability than was shown this weekend, he said.
"We have to play more consistently," he said. "Every player has to show up for every match."