March 8, 2011
BRADENTON, Fla. - Missouri lost its opening match (5-2) against No. 47 William and Mary on Monday morning at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy.
The Tribe picked up an early lead when they won the doubles point winning at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. Senior doubles partners Kaitlyn Ritchie and Mallory Weber combined to overcome the pairing of Johnson and Cepeda to win at the No. 1 spot 8-6.
Ritchie and Weber (No. 1 & No. 2) continued to impress going into the singles competition. Ritchie controlled Johnson of William and Mary (6-3, 6-4) while Weber defeated Vulovich (6-2, 6-4). The rest of the Tigers had disappointing singles matches as Mesgarzadeh prevailed over Marlen Hacke (6-1, 6-0), Cepeda finished off Maria Christensen (4-6, 6-3, 14-12 third set super tiebreaker), Kargl defeated Jamie Mera (6-1, 6-4), and Sabacinski beat Rachel Stuhlmann (6-2, 6-1).
On their second day of competition, the No. 63 Tigers devoured the Michigan State Spartans 5-2. In doubles, Jamie Mera and Marlen Hacke fell to Wilson and Herzog 9-7 and Mahdi Besovic and Rachel Stuhlmann were defeated 8-4. However, the Mizzou pairing of Kaitlyn Ritchie and Mallory Weber snagged an impressive win over MSU's No. 21 partners Amy Barton and Marina Bohrer 8-5.
Entering singles competition, the Tigers still needed to make up for their loss of the doubles point. They did so when Ritchie def. Barton (4-6, 6-2, 7-5), Weber def. Rusakova (6-3, 6-2), Hacke def. Bohrer (6-3, 2-6, 6-3), Mera def. Silesova (2-6, 6-2, 6-4) and Stuhlmann def. Wilson (6-3, 6-3). Besovic fought hard but fell to Guentert (6-4, 6-4) at the No. 6 spot.
The Missouri Tigers will take on the Big 10's Minnesota Gophers at home on Fri., March 11th at 6 p.m. Weather permitting, Missouri will be playing outside at Bethel. Missouri's competition against Drake University on Sat., March 12th was cancelled.
For more information, visit mutigers.com
#47 William and Mary 5, #63 Missouri 2
Doubles
No. 1 - Weber/Ritchie (Missouri) def. Johnson/Cepeda (W&M) - 8-6
No. 2 - Mesgarzadeh/Kargl (W&M) def. Stuhlmann/Christensen (Missouri) - 8-6
No. 3 - Sabacinski/Loomans (W&M) def. Mera/Hacke (Missouri) - 8-2
Singles
No. 1 - Kaitlyn Ritchie (Missouri) def. Hope Johnson (W&M) - 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 - Mallory Weber (Missouri) def. Nina Vulovich (W&M) - 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 - Marlen Mesgarzadeh (W&M) def. Marlen Hacke (Missouri) - 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 - Anik Cepeda (W&M) def. Maria Christensen (Missouri) - 4-6, 6-3, 14-12 third set super tiebreaker
No. 5 - Katie Kargl (W&M) def. Jamie Mera (Missouri) - 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 - Lauren Sabacinski (W&M) def. Rachel Stuhlmann (Missouri) - 6-2, 6-1
#63 Missouri 5, Michigan State 2
Doubles
1. Kaitlyn Ritchie and Mallory Weber (MU) def. No. 21 Amy Barton and Marina Bohrer (MSU), 8-4.
2. Whitney Wilson and Nicole Herzog (MSU) def. Jamie Mera and Marlen Hacke (MU), 9-7.
3. Michaela Silesova and Valentina Rusakova (MSU) def. Mahdi Besovic and Rachel Stuhlmann (MU), 8-4
Singles
1. Kaitlyn Ritchie (MU) def. Amy Barton (MSU), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
2. Mallory Weber (MU) def. Valentina Rusakova (MSU), 6-3, 6-2
3. Marlen Hacke (MU) def. Marina Bohrer (MSU), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
4. Jamie Mera (MU) def. Michaela Silesova (MSU), 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
5. Rachel Stuhlmann (MU) def. Whitney Wilson (MSU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Dana Guentert (MSU) def. Mahdi Besovic (MU), 6-4, 6-4