April 28, 2005
Austin, Texas, - The #69 Missouri Tigers defeated the #66 Oklahoma State Cowgirls, 4-3, in the first round of the 2005 Big 12 Tennis Championship. The win improves the Tigers to 15-8 on the seasonand marks the third consecutive year the Tigers have advanced to the second round of the tournament.
In doubles competition the Tigers came out ready to play, taking the two matches to win pairs point. The Tiger tandem of Yelena Olshanskaya and Erika Josbena played their best match of the season at No. 2, besting Jennifer Poskitt and Lauren Simmons, 8-1. The team of Lubica Nadasska and Hana Kraftova, playing for only their second time together, bested Sandra Blajer and Jessica Collins, 8-0, at No. 3. The No. 1 doubles point went unfinished as Missouri had already clinched the point.
Entering singles competition, the Tigers needed to take three of the six matches to claim the team victory. The Cowgirls proved a formidable opponent keeping every match close. Missouri stepped ahead with an early 2-1 advantage after No. 6 Carolyn Kramer defeated Blajer.
Despite the early lead however, the Cowgirls battled back to tie the match at 2-2, when Zana Masnic defeated Hana Kraftova, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2. With the team score tied at 3-3 after a Tiger win at No. 3 and a Cowgirl win at No. 1, the team victory came down to the No. 5 match between Mizzou's Josbena and OSU's Jessica Collins. Serving a match tied at one set apiece, Josbena needed to win the third set to take the match and claim the victory for the Tigers. Josbena proved up the task, defeating Collins, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
"It was a close match and our ladies played well," Head Coach Blake Starkey said. "I'm especially proud of Yelena and Erika, they played really well today and had two important points for us. I have to give credit to Oklahoma State, we played a tough match with them in Stillwater and it felt good to get the win today."
Competing in the second round, the Tigers face the #1 seeded Baylor Bears on Friday, April 29 at for 9:00 a.m.