March 9, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - The 68th-ranked University of Missouri women's tennis team is set to host No. 30 Colorado and unranked Louisville this weekend. The Tigers will face Colorado at 1 p.m. Saturday and Louisville at 5 p.m. on Monday. Both matches will be held at the Green Tennis Center in Columbia. Admission is free and Tiger fans are encouraged to attend.
For Tiger fans unable to attend the match, please check MUTigers.com for live updates during the match.
Mizzou is on a three-match winning streak after defeating then-No. 63 Kansas State last Saturday (March 3). The previous weekend, the Tigers downed Montana and Drake. This recent hot streak was enough for the Tigers to earn their first top-70 ranking since May 2005, when they finished the season ranked 66th. Mizzou is 5-3 on the spring and 1-2 in the Big 12. They are 1-3 against teams ranked in the top-75.
Big Time Match-up
Saturday's match against No. 30 Colorado will be the first match-up of ranked teams at the Green Tennis Center since April 24, 2005, when the then-No. 58 Tigers fell to then-No. 10, Texas, 7-0. Mizzou hopes to have a better day Saturday against the Buffaloes.
Colorado Buffaloes
The Buffaloes are coming off a big upset win over then-No. 14 Baylor Sunday in Colorado. CU sits at the top of the Big 12 standings at 3-0, their best Big 12 start ever. They are 7-3 overall. Their No. 1 singles player, Monica Milewski, was named the Big 12 player of the week for her efforts against Baylor and BYU, who the Buffs played last Friday. In the win over Baylor, she downed Zuzana Cerna, and in the team's loss at BYU she defeated Lauren Jones.
Series
The Tigers and Buffaloes have met 23 times, and Colorado leads the series by a large margin, 19 to 4. CU won the match last year, 7-0, in Boulder, but Mizzou has won the last two meetings in Columbia (2005, '03)
Crucial Doubles Point
Tiger Head Coach Blake Starkey always identifies the doubles point as a crucial part of close matches, and the Colorado match is no exception. Colorado is 7-3, and in all of their wins, they have won the doubles point. In all three of their losses, they lost the doubles point. The same trend holds for the Tigers. In their five wins, they won the doubles point and when they lost it, they lost the match.
U of L
The Louisville Cardinals are 4-10 overall and 2-1 in the BIG EAST after defeating Cincinnati, 6-1, last Saturday (March 3). They will play Kansas Sunday before traveling to Columbia for Monday's match.
The Cardinals are currently unranked but they were ranked 75th in the Feb. 21 ITA Poll. Louisville was without their top singles player, Lauren Imre, for most of the year, but she has played in the team's last three matches and is 1-2 on the spring after defeating Cincinnati's Hannah Hinton in straight sets. In Imre's absence, Robyn White stepped into the No. 1 spot and earned a 3-6 record. White is now playing at No. 2 singles for the Cardinals.
Trends
The Cardinals are 0-6 against teams ranked in the top-75 this spring. Mizzou has won the only two meetings between the teams. Their last meeting resulted in a 5-2 Tiger win in Columbia.
Tiger Notes
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 Moves up to Sixth on Tiger Doubles Wins List With Josbena and Pratzel's win against Kansas State, Josbena moved into a tie for sixth place on Mizzou's all time doubles wins list with Nancy Dickens. Josbena currently sits at 58-59 for her career. The duo of Josbena and Pratzel is 14-10 during this season, including winning the Gopher Invitational and the Billiken Fall Classic.
Svetlic Leads Team in Wins
Junior Chrissy Svetlic currently holds a 15-8 record in singles action this season, which leads the team. She has won two of her last three matches at No. 3 and No. 4 singles, and she is 4-4 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 wrap up this home stand Monday, but don't despair Mizzou fans, they will play at least five more matches in the state of Missouri. The Tigers have four more home matches and at least one match at the Big 12 Championships in Kansas City.
Starkey Over the Century Mark
Early last season Head Coach Blake Starkey recorded his 100th win as Mizzou Head Coach. Starkey currently has 112 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.