Tigers Head North to Try to Continue Streak
2/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Feb. 22, 2008
Columbia, Mo. -
Complete Match Notes in PDF Format 
The University of Missouri women's tennis team (7-1/0-0 Big 12) heads to the Hawkeye State this weekend to face No. 42 Iowa and Drake. The Tigers and Hawkeyes (4-0/0-0 Big Ten) will play at 9 am Saturday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City. Live scoring for that match will be available at hawkeyesports.com. Sunday, the Tigers will travel west to Des Moines to meet Drake (2-3/0-0 Missouri Valley) at 10 am.
NOW! That's A Streak
The Tigers are in the midst of a seven-match winning streak, their longest since the 2005 season, when they won eight in a row. The 2007-08 team needs three more victories to tie the program's longest winning streak (10) set in the 1978-79 season.
Speaking of the 78-79 Campaign...
If Mizzou can get out of Iowa with two wins, the Tigers will equal the program's best ten-match start to a season. The same 1978-79 team that collected ten wins in a row started the season with a 9-1 record. Coincidentally, the Tigers beat Drake and Iowa during that run.
Tigers Pull a Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Mizzou took all seven home matches of the homestand to improve to 7-1 on the season. The schedule was not as demanding as the Big 12 slate looks to be, but the Tigers did `take care of business' by winning the winnable matches.
"I very politely told my team, `its officially over, hope you enjoy it.'" Tiger Head Coach Blake Starkey said. "We have vastly stronger tests coming up, but they should have a lot of confidence right now."
Tigers Sweep Doubleheader No. 2
Last weekend, Mizzou defeated Southeast Missouri (0-1/0-0 Ohio Valley), 7-0, and Illinois-Chicago (1-2/0-0 Horizon League), 5-2. Mizzou's win over the Flames marked the closest match of the spring, as the contest was not decided until Kaitlyn Ritchie defeated Grace Gill-Morlis in three sets. Tiger junior Jessica Giuggioli earned her 6th and 7th victories of the season Saturday, both in the No. 1 singles spot. Mizzou took both doubles points on the day, winning two of three against Illinois-Chicago, and sweeping all three matches against Southeast, only giving up four total games.
Familiar Foe
The Tigers and Bulldogs are no strangers. The teams regularly play each other in fall tournaments, they have met five of the last six seasons and their head coach is a former Tiger standout. Starting with the fall; Mizzou players played Drake players six times, winning five of those six. The Tigers hold a 13-3 advantage in spring dual matches after taking a 5-2 victory in Columbia last season. In addition to the familiarity on the court, Drake Head Coach Urska Juric used to play for the Tigers under Head Coach Blake Starkey. Juric finished her career with a 99-34 doubles record and a 83-44 mark in singles action when it ended in 2004. Two years ago she was named to the All-Big 12 10th Anniversary team along with former doubles partner Katka Sevcikova. During their playing years (2002-04) they earned All-Big 12 honors every season. Juric also earned All-Big 12 honors in singles in 2002, '03 and '04. After she graduated in 2004, she became Mizzou's assistant coach until last fall when she was hired by Drake to fill their head coach vacancy.
A Closer Look at Drake
Juric's Bulldogs are 2-3 after dropping two matches against Nebraska (Feb. 8) and Wyoming (Feb. 9). Nebraska blanked Drake, 7-0, while Wyoming just edged the Bulldogs, 4-3. Junior Veronika Leszayova is 3-2 at the No. 1 spot for Drake this spring. She was the only Bulldog to take a match against a Tiger during the fall, defeating Kaitlyn Ritchie in straight sets.
The Hawkeyes...Maybe Not as Familiar
On the other hand, the Tigers have not played the Hawkeyes nearly as much as the Bulldogs. Iowa won the last meeting between UI and MU, a 4-3 win in 2004. They hold a 7-2 lead in the all-time series.
How Does Undefeated Feel?
The Tigers have pretty good idea of how it would feel, as they won their last seven after dropping a match on the road against a tough Arkansas team, but Iowa knows for real, as they are a perfect 4-0 on the season. The Hawkeyes defeated Ole Miss, Alabama, then-No. 60 DePaul and then Marquette. Jacqueline Lee is 1-2 at the No. 1 singles spot, and Milica Veselinovic won at the top spot against Ole Miss, UI's last match.
Tiger Notes
Giuggioli Shows Us
Entering last weekend, Giuggioli had played at Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5, going 5-1 in six matches. Saturday she played No. 1 for the Tigers and came away with two big wins. Giuggioli, a Piombino, Italy, native, played for the University of Kentucky for her first two and a half seasons before coming to the Show-Me State.
Freshman Fury
Tiger freshman Maureen Modesto has seemingly made an easy transition from the high school ranks in Northwest Indiana to Division I tennis. The Highland, Ind., native has a 17-6 singles record over the course of her freshman season. Her 17 wins leads the team, and leaves her only five wins short of Mizzou's top-15 list. Sunday's opponent is not yet known, but she is 1-0 this season against Drake, beating Sarah Plowman in straight sets in the fall.
Svetlic Wins Brock Olivo Award...He Runs For Congress...She Gets A Few Wins
Last Wednesday (Feb. 13) the Tiger Club of Kansas City awarded Mizzou senior Chrissy Svetlic the Brock Olivo award. The award is given to one male and one female student-athlete from the Kansas City area. Tiger running back Tony Temple was the male recipient. Later in the week, Olivio announced he is running for a spot in the U.S. Congress. Olivo, a Hermann, Mo., native, will run for the 9th District seat, which will soon be vacated by Kenny Hulshof, who plans to run for governor. Saturday, Svetlic finished the exciting week by taking a straight-set win in Mizzou's victory over Southeast Missouri. She also won both of her doubles matches that day.
Weber Starts Strong
Tiger freshman Mallory Weber is 5-2 this spring, playing primarily in the No. 1 singles spot. Her five wins at No. 1 is already two more than last season's total of three at that spot. She is also 11-3 in doubles action with Svetlic dating back to the fall.
Ritchie is a Doubles Queen
Ritchie boasts a 16-2 doubles record dating back to the fall, giving her an amazing .889 winning percentage. She has played with Giuggioli, Modesto and Kaitlin Dunham in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots this spring, going 7-1 in those contests.
Dunham Solid At No. 2
Dunham has won her last two matches at No. 2 singles, defeating Southeast Missouri's Julia Masotti and Syracuse's Simone Kalhorn in straight sets. She did lose to UIC's Kristin McPhillips Saturday at No. 3 singles, but still maintains a 9-6 record dating back to the fall.
10-4 ... Over and Out
I'm not inferring Sofia Ayala is a truck driver, but if anyone has asked her for her singles record lately, she would respond with a phrase commonly uttered on I-70, "10-4." The phrase loosely means, OK, and the transfer from the University of Alabama is definitely OK on the court. She claimed four of her 10 in the No. 6 spot this spring, and she has won eight of her last nine while in a Tiger uniform.
Tigers Continue Seventh Season at GTC
The Green Tennis Center has served as the home of Mizzou tennis since the spring of 2002, when Mizzou opened its doors with a 5-4 home record. The Tigers have continued that home success throughout the six seasons at the GTC, going 52-21 in the dome at 2001 S. Providence Rd. The Tigers will be back in action at home Mar. 14 and 16 when Kansas State and Kansas come to town.
Climbing...climbing...
Svetlic has earned 41 singles and 40 doubles victories as a Tiger after transferring from Northern Illinois University during her sophomore season. Her 40 doubles wins puts her in 14th place all-time. Svetlic is five singles wins away from a tie for 16th place, and a spot on the singles leaderboard.
Coaching Staff: Two Blakes!
As Tiger Head Coach Blake Starkey enters his 11th season at the helm, he brings Assistant Coach Blake Edwards on board to lead Mizzou in 2008. Starkey, who went 106-120 in his first ten seasons, enters his second decade searching for more. With a 7-1 start to this season, the future looks good for the two Blakes.
Tiger Hometowns: The Heartland and Beyond
Speaking of different backgrounds, Mizzou's 2008 players come from both far and near. Starkey has recruited five players from the USTA Missouri Valley Section (Dunham, Ritchie, Svetlic, Wagner and Weber) while adding one from Indiana (Modesto). Also joining the Tigers in 2008; Ayala, a native of Quito, Ecuador, who played for Alabama, and Giuggioli, a Piombino, Italy, native, who played with Kentucky last season.
Up Next: The Land of 10,000 Lakes and America's Dairyland
After the trip to Iowa, the Tigers will come back to Columbia to prepare for another trip north. This time Mizzou will head to the Baseline Tennis Center on the Campus of the University of Minnesota for a dual on Friday (Feb. 29) before heading down to Madison, Wis., to play the Badgers on Sunday (March 2).
