March 15, 2007
Columbia, Mo. - The 75th-ranked University of Missouri women's tennis team continues its Big 12 schedule this weekend, as the Tigers invade Oklahoma to face OU Friday and 50th-ranked Oklahoma State Saturday.
Mizzou hopes to improve on a 1-3 Big 12 record this weekend. The Tigers are 5-5 overall. Last weekend they lost two matches at home; to then-No. 30 Colorado, 6-1, and Louisville, 4-3.
Match Times and Information
(75) Missouri at Oklahoma
Friday, March 16, 2 p.m.
Live stats available at http://www.soonersports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=300&KEY=&SPID=206&SPSID=2821
(75) Missouri at (50) Oklahoma State
Saturday, March 17, 11 a.m.
Mizzou in the Rankings
The Tigers dropped down to 75th in the latest ITA top-75 poll after losing to then-No. 30 Colorado Saturday. The rankings only include matches through Sunday, so the loss to Louisville will be factored in the rankings released next Tuesday. In this week's rankings, Louisville moved ahead of the Tigers after their win at Kansas. The Cardinals are 74th, but again, that was before Monday's match.
Lets Take a Look Back...
Colorado 6 Missouri 1
Last Saturday the Tigers lost to then-No. 30 Colorado, 6-1, in their first outdoor match of the season. Tiger fans enjoyed clear skies and 60-degree temperatures, but the team ran into one of the hottest teams of the Big 12; the Buffaloes were 3-0 in the conference entering Saturday's match. The lone bright spot of the match was the effort of Amanda Pratzel at No. 2 singles. Pratzel downed Camila Belassi, 6-1, 6-3, to earn Mizzou's only point. The Tigers were able to take a good thing away from the match, it was played outside, and the two matches this weekend in Oklahoma will likely be outside as well.
Cardinals 4 Tigers 3
Mizzou went into the match against Louisville fully aware of just how tough they were. The Cardinals just defeated Kansas, 5-2, Sunday, their second win in a row. They just got their top singles player, Lauren Imre, back from injury, and she defeated Kansas' No. 1 Sunday. She was 2-2 entering Monday's match against Pratzel. But let's start with doubles, where the Tigers won at No. 3, lost at No. 1 and it came down to Pratzel and Josbena's match at No. 2. The Tiger senior duo won the close and intense match, 9-8(2). In singles action, the Tigers lost at No. 1 as Imre picked up her third win of the spring, a three-set marathon victory against Pratzel. The only other wins for the Tigers were at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, where Katelyn McKenzie and Raquel Wagner won their matches in tiebreakers played in place of the third set..
Pratzel Moves to No. 1 Singles
After senior Amanda Pratzel's win against Colorado at No. 2, Tiger Head Coach Blake Starkey realized she was playing way too well not to be considered for the team's No. 1 position, she had won four in a row and five of six at the No. 2 spot. Starkey considered moving her up, and Monday Pratzel played Louisville's No. 1, Lauren Imre. While Pratzel lost the three-set match, she fought hard after losing the first set, 6-3. She came back to win the second set, 7-5, but lost in the third, 7-5, to lose the marathon match, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5. This was Pratzel's third match at No. 1 this season. She won her first match of the year, against SLU's Katie Lozanova, and fell to Arkansas' then-No. 65 Ela Kaluder. Pratzel is slotted for the No. 1 spot in this weekend's matches.
McKenzie Gets win at No. 5
Tiger freshman Katelyn McKenzie has quietly gone on quite a five-match stretch. Starting with the Drake match, Feb. 23rd, McKenzie won three in a row, including wins over Drake, Montana and Kansas State's No. 6 singles players. All three wins were in straight sets. She suffered a setback against Colorado last Saturday, but came back to earn a victory at the No. 5 spot Monday against Jo-Anne Van Aerde of Louisville. McKenzie lost the first set, 6-4, then won the second, 6-2, and won a close tiebreak played in place of the third set, 12-10. McKenzie has now won four of five, including her first win at the No. 5 spot. She is now 14-9 overall, tied with Wagner for second on the team in singles wins, behind Svetlic's 15. McKenzie will stay in the No. 5 spot for this weekend's matches.
Oklahoma
The unranked Oklahoma Sooners are 4-5 on the spring and 1-1 in the Big 12 after losing to then-No. 35 Baylor, 7-0, last Friday. The Sooners were ranked 66th before the loss. Their lone Big 12 win came against then-No. 53 Texas Tech, a 4-3 upset in Oklahoma City.
Gabby Baker will play No. 1 for the Sooners in their match against the Tigers. She is 0-3 in that spot this spring, but she was 13-10 in the No. 1 spot last season, and she finished the season winning nine of her last 10. She faces Pratzel, who is 1-2 in the No. 1 spot. Monica Purice is 1-2 in the No. 2 spot this spring, where she will play against MU's Erika Josbena.
Series
The Tigers are only 1-25 against the Sooners in dual matches, but the last two meetings have been close. Last season, and in 2005, the Sooners beat Mizzou, 4-3.
OSU
Oklahoma State 6-2 on the spring and 2-2 in the Big 12. The Cowgirls are ranked 50th in the latest ITA poll after losing to two ranked teams last weekend. The Cowgirls lost to then-No. 25 Baylor and then-No. 30 Colorado. OSU lost to Baylor, 6-1, in Stillwater, before traveling to Boulder, where the Buffaloes downed the Cowgirls, 4-3. Before the two losses, Oklahoma State was 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 after beating Kansas and then-No. 55 Texas Tech. The Cowgirls are led by Iryna Tkachenko, who is 5-3 in dual matches this spring. However, Tkachenko is 1-3 in the Big 12 and she has lost her last three matches in straight sets. Yawna Allen is 4-3 in seven matches at No. 2 for OSU.
Tigers vs. Cowgirls
Mizzou is only 4-28 against Oklahoma State if you include post-season meetings. The Tigers lost to OSU twice last year, once at home in the regular season, 5-2, and once in the first round of the Big 12 championships, 4-0. But Mizzou has earned victories in three of the last seven matches against the Cowgirls.
After the Oklahoma Trip
The Tigers will go on the road again next weekend to play Syracuse and Army in Syracuse, NY.