February 2, 2017

By Toby Lowe

Missouri women’s tennis visited Utah State Wednesday in the midst of a 10-match road trip to begin the season. Mizzou arrived with a 1-1 record for their matchup against the Aggies, who touted a 3-0 start to their season headed into the match.

Missouri looked confident and prepared as they prevailed in their most competitive matchup of the season to date. They battled through doubles competition, capturing the doubles point and putting on some gritty individual performances to pick up a 6-1 victory.

Head coach Colt Gaston made no changes to the doubles lineup, keeping the same pairings together for the third straight match. The decision reaped great rewards as Mizzou stood tough in doubles, earning a 2-0 victory

Bea Machado Santos and Clare Raley exchanged set victories with their opponents in the No. 2 position. Locked in a close match with a 4-3 lead in the final set, they were able to separate late, ultimately prevailing 6-3 for the Mizzou’s first victory of the day. The victory brings the pair’s doubles record to 2-1 on the season.

Meanwhile, freshmen Tate Schroeder and Cassidy Spearman were deadlocked in a 4-4 battle. They, like their teammates, were also able to pull away late, winning 6-4. The match clinched the doubles point for the Tigers. Schroeder and Spearman remain undefeated on the season, improving to 2-0.

After two lopsided singles contests during the Tigers opening weekend, resulting in one win and one loss, they faced an opponent in Utah State that battled them with every shot. The Tigers remained tough and delivered some exhilarating comebacks, digging themselves out of early match holes and finishing the day with a 5-1 singles record.

Santos took the court in her usual No. 1 position, still searching for her first singles victory of the season. Facing a tough and experienced opponent in Nini Guensler, who earned All-Mountain West honors for her singles play last year, Santos was determined, and won the first set 6-4. Guensler would not let up on Santos and battled back to take the second set 6-4.
The competition ratcheted up in the third set as Santos and Guensler forced a tiebreaker to decide the winner. Guensler ultimately outlasted Santos 7-3 in the tiebreak, denying the Mizzou junior her first win of the year.

The final match score was 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 [7-3] as Santos dropped to 0-3 on the season.

Schroeder continued her remarkable play, remaining undefeated in the spring season as she craftily handled her opponent 6-0, 6-3. It’s hard to overstate how impressive Schroeder has played this year as she improves to 4-0 to start the spring season.

Junior Amina Ismail showed tremendous perseverance in the No. 3 position. After falling behind 1-3 in the first set, she was able to turn the match around by claiming a 6-4 victory. She continued her blistering play in the second set, earning a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Ismail won 10 of the next 13 games after falling behind 1-3. She improves her singles match record to 2-1 on the spring season and has now recorded 8 wins dating back to the fall.

Freshman Mackenzie Middlebrooks got a nod from coach Gaston as she was inserted into the lineup for her first spring match. Middlebrooks certainly did not disappoint, looking razor-sharp and keeping her opponent at a comfortable distance while she snatched a 6-2, 6-2 victory.

Utah State proved to be a formidable opponent for the Tigers, but Missouri’s ability to pull out several close matches and come-from-behind wins was the difference in the Mizzou victory.

Missouri will stay in Utah as they take on BYU on Friday. First serve is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.

_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_