March 2, 2007

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri women's tennis team hosts No. 63 Kansas State Saturday at the Green Tennis Center. The match begins at 4 p.m. and admission is free.

This will mark the fourth Tiger match against a team ranked in the top 65. They are 0-3 this season against ranked opponents, with losses to then-No. 52 Arkansas, then-No. 29 Texas A&M and then-No. 63 Nebraska.

However, the Tigers have won three of their last four matches and they are currently on a two match winning streak after defeating Montana and Drake at home last weekend. Mizzou defeated Drake, 5-2, last Friday, and beat Montana, 6-1, Sunday, behind a win at No. 1 singles from Erika Josbena.

Kansas State Notes

Series

This will mark the 27th match in the series between Mizzou and K-State. In the first 26 matches, the Wildcats have won 18 of them, including a 5-2 victory last year in Manhattan. The Tigers won the last match in Columbia in 2005, 5-2.

In the fall...

During the K-State Mock Duals and the ITA Central Championships, Tiger players won four of seven singles matches against Kansas State opponents. Wagner and McKenzie won one match each, and Svetlic earned two victories.

Kansas State in the spring

The Wildcats, as previously mentioned, are ranked 63rd in the current ITA poll. They moved up two spots this week, despite losing to then-No. 67 Boise State (5-2) and then-No. 38 New Mexico (6-1) last weekend in Albuquerque. Kansas State sits at 2-4 overall and 0-0 in the conference. Originally, they were supposed to travel to Iowa to face Iowa State Friday, but the match was postponed due to hazardous winter weather conditions, so their match with Mizzou becomes their Big 12 opener.

Kansas State is playing without two of their players, usual No. 2 singles player Tamar Kvaratskhelia will likely miss the match due to an injury and usual No. 3 singles player Maria Perevoshchikova has left the team. No. 1 singles player Viviana Yrureta leads the Wildcats; she has 11 victories on the year, but is 2-5 on the spring. Junior Fernanda Da Valle is 1-1 in the No. 2 spot.

Josbena Tied for 13th

Last Sunday (Feb. 25) senior Erika Josbena earned her 46th career singles victory, tying her for 13th place on MU's all-time wins list. She is only four wins away from 12th place. Hana Kraftova currently sits in 12th with 50 wins.

Erika is Moving up the Doubles Wins List, too!

With Josbena and Pratzel's win against Drake last Friday, Josbena moved into sole possession of seventh place on Mizzou's all time doubles wins list, climbing over Hana Kraftova. Josbena currently sits at 57-59 for her career. The duo of Josbena and Pratzel is 13-10 during this season, including winning the Gopher Invitational and the Billiken Fall Classic.

Svetlic Leads Team in Wins

Junior Chrissy Svetlic currently holds a 15-7 record in singles action this season, which leads the team. She has won three of her last four matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, and she is 4-3 on the spring. She is seven wins away from 15th place on Mizzou's singles season wins leader board.

Show-Me Tennis

The Tigers will play at least seven more matches in the state of Missouri, as they opened in St. Louis and will participate in the 11th Big 12 Championships, hosted by the University of Kansas in Kansas City, Mo., in April. After this weekend, the Tigers host six more home matches.

Starkey Over the Century Mark

Early last season Head Coach Blake Starkey recorded his 100th win as Mizzou Head Coach. Starkey currently has 111 wins, which is by far the most in MU tennis history. Jim LaRue, who coached the Tigers from 1988-1995, is second on the list with 51 wins.

Olshanskaya to Miss Season

Senior Yelena Olshanskaya will sit out her senior season due to off-season knee surgery. She was the Tigers' No. 1 singles player for most of last season, going 5-8 at that spot for the Tigers. As previously mentioned, she will finish her career with 52 singles wins, currently good for 10th on the all-time list.

The Week Ahead

The Tigers will finish their home stand next week when they face No. 43 Colorado Saturday (March 10) and Louisville Monday (March 11)