Sept. 25, 2008

Las Vegas, Nev. - The Missouri Tigers will continue their fall campaign this weekend in Las Vegas, Nev. The ladies will participate in the three-day event which begins Friday (Sept. 26) and carries through Sunday (Sept. 28). Four schools will be in Las Vegas for competition along with the University of Nevada-Las Vegas who will host the tournament. Illinois State, Northern Arizona and Oklahoma State will join the Tigers out West.

The ladies are coming off an impressive fall tournament in which they placed first in each of the four divided brackets. The Mizzou Invitational was the first event of the fall season for the Tigers. The tournament welcomed four other schools to the Green Tennis Center in Columbia. Senior Jessica Giuggioli lead the way for the Tigers placing first in Singles Bracket A. Sofia Ayala placed first in Singles Bracket B and Kaitlin Dunham went undefeated to take the Singles C title. Mallory Weber and Jamie Mera earned top honors in the Doubles Bracket by defeating Kaitlyn Ritchie and Giuggioli in the championship match, 8-2.

"This will be a good test for us," said coach Blake Starkey. "The girls have been working really hard these past two weeks and are ready to play some other girls outside of the team."

Play will begin in Las Vegas on Friday (Sept. 26) at 10 a.m. PDT. The day will include the first round of singles followed by the first round of doubles. Saturday (Sept. 27) will begin at 10 a.m. PDT with the second round of singles and conclude with doubles finals. Play will commence on Sunday (Sept. 28) at 10 a.m. PDT with the final round of singles.