March 10, 2006

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's tennis team hosts No. 11 Baylor Saturday at the Green Tennis Center. The match is set for 1 p.m. and is open to the public.

The Tigers (5-4, 0-3 Big 12) are looking for their first conference win of the season, as they host the 11th-ranked Baylor Bears (10-2, 3-0 Big 12).

Tiger Head Coach Blake Starkey realizes his team has a very thin margin of error against the Bears.

"We can't make the mistakes we made (last Saturday) going up against that team. We are about to go through a tough stretch. And if there is anything that is frustrating, we've dropped some matches at home that were right there for the taking. But we'll be back out here fighting."

Saturday's match against Baylor ends the Tigers' eight-match home stand. The Tigers are 4-3 in their first seven home matches.

Tiger Notes

Last Time Out Last Saturday (March 4) the Tigers lost 5-2 to then-No. 66 Texas Tech. In the loss, the Tigers got singles wins from freshman Val Dandik at the No. 4 spot, and junior Erika Josbena in the No. 5 position. Josbena and her doubles partner Amanda Pratzel also won their match. But the two points the Tigers earned were not enough, as they fell to the then-No. 66 Lady Raiders in Columbia.

Dandik Looks for Her Fourth Straight Win After a slow start to her freshman season, Tiger newcomer Val Dandik has won her last three matches. Dandik's singles record now stands at 4-3. Her last three wins, all in straight sets, came against Montana State in the No. 3 position, Minnesota at the No. 5 spot, and Texas Tech in the No. 4 position.

Kraftova Looks for Second Conference Win at No. 1 Singles Mizzou senior Hana Kraftova will look to improve on her 4-3 singles record, and pick up her second conference win when she faces No. 13 Zuzana Zemenova. Kraftova's last win came against Oklahoma's then-No. 73 Gabby Baker on Feb. 14.

Baylor Notes

Bears Coming Off a Productive Weekend Last weekend, Baylor defeated Big 12 foes Nebraska and Oklahoma State in Waco. On Sunday, the Bears beat Oklahoma State 6-1. In the win, Baylor's No. 1 singles player, then-No. 12 Zuzana Zemenova defeated Oklahoma State's Iryna Tkachenko. Also winning for the Bears, then-No. 16 Zuzana Cerna defeated Oklahoma State's Zana Masnic. Last Saturday, Baylor defeated then-No. 43 Nebraska 6-1. In the victory, then-No. 12 Zuzana Zemenova defeated Nebraska's Kim Hartmann.

Tiger Fans Get a Look at Last Season's NCAA Champion Baylor's top singles player, No. 13 Zuzana Zemenova, is coming off an outstanding freshman season. Last spring, Zemenova won the 2005 NCAA Singles Championship and 2005 Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Year award. The Baylor sophomore is 9-3 in her first 12 spring matches with a 3-0 conference record. Zemenova is the reigning Big 12 Women's Tennis Player of the Week. Last week, Zemenova won all four of her singles matches, including an impressive victory over then-No. 4 Nicole Leimbach of TCU.

Three of Baylor's Singles Players Are Ranked Baylor's top three singles players are all ranked in the top 100. Joining No. 13 Zuzana Zemenova in this week's rankings are No. 14 Zuzana Cerna and No. 94 Daniela Covello.

Up Next

Next weekend, the Tigers will travel to Colorado for two matches. Mizzou plays Air Force on March 17, and Big 12 foe, No. 43 Colorado on March 18. The next Mizzou home match is April 2 when the Tigers host Oklahoma State at noon.