April 6, 2006

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's tennis team will travel to the state of Kansas this weekend to face Wichita State, Border Showdown rival No. 63 Kansas, and No. 56 Kansas State.

The Tigers are currently 6-7 overall and 0-6 in the Big 12. Friday, the Tigers will travel to Wichita for a non-conference match against Wichita State. Saturday, Missouri will face Kansas in the Border Showdown match, and Sunday, the Tigers will face Kansas State in Manhattan.

Tiger Notes

Last Time Out Last Sunday the Tigers fell to then- No. 65 Oklahoma State 5-2 in Columbia. Missouri's Yelena Olshanskaya won her match at No. 1 singles, and Tiger junior Amanda Pratzel won her match at No. 5 singles. The Tigers also got a win at the No. 2 doubles spot, but dropped four singles matches and two other doubles matches to lose to the Cowgirls. With the loss, the Tigers fell to 6-7 overall and 0-6 in conference matches.

Kraftova Expected to Miss Weekend Matches Tiger Senior Hana Kraftova is expected to miss this weekend's matches due to the same back injury that forced her to miss the last four matches. During those matches, the Tigers are 1-3.

Pratzel Reaches the Ten-Win Mark With her win at No. 5 singles last Sunday, St. Louis native Amanda Pratzel improved her singles record to a team best 10-3. Pratzel has played at No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 this season. Pratzel is in her first semester after transferring from Missouri State, where she played for the Bears in the fall. Before playing at Missouri State, she played her first two full seasons at the University of Oklahoma.

Tiger Opponents

Wichita State (Friday, 1 p.m.) The Wichita State Shockers are 7-5 overall and 1-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. In their last match, they defeated Oral Roberts 7-0 on April 2. Their conference victory came against Missouri State on April 1. The Shockers defeated Missouri State 4-3 in Wichita. The Shockers are led by No. 82 Madina Rakhim at No. 1 singles. Rakhim is 10-2 on the season.

Kansas (Saturday, noon) The 63rd-ranked Kansas Jayhawks are 11-7 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. The Jayhawks fell to No. 49 Nebraska 4-3 in their last match. In the loss, No. 2 singles player Elizaveta Avdeeva won her 10th consecutive match to improve to 15-3 on the season. No. 1 singles player, No. 107 Ksenia Bukina is 9-7 at No. 1 singles on the spring, with a 2-4 conference record. At No. 1 doubles, the duo of Avdeeva and Bukina lead the Conference with a record of 4-1. The Tigers have won the last three matches between the two teams.

Kansas State (Sunday, noon) The 56th-ranked Wildcats enter the weekend at 8-6 overall and 4-2 in the Big 12. They will face No. 8 Baylor on Saturday. Last weekend, the Wildcats defeated Iowa State and Oklahoma in Manhattan. The Wildcats are led by No. 1 singles player Tamar Kvaratskhelia. Kvaratskhelia is 6-5 at the No 1 spot this spring, and 4-0 in the Big 12. She missed the Wildcats' last match, Sunday against Oklahoma, because of an injured ankle. The Tigers have won the last three matches between the two teams over the last two years, but still trail 19-7 in the overall series.

Up Next for the Tigers After Missouri's match against Kansas State, the Tigers will return home to practice for three matches next weekend. On Fri April 14, the Tigers will travel to Ames, Iowa to face Iowa State at noon. The Tigers will then return to Columbia for their final two home matches of the season. On Sunday. Missouri will face Memphis at 10 a.m. and Saint Louis University at 2 p.m. Sunday's matches will be held at the Green Tennis Center and both are open to the public.