No. 63 Mizzou Falls to No. 47 William and Mary

Monday, March 7

Florida

University of Missouri

William & Mary

3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Tennis

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).

The Missouri Tigers will take on the Big 10's Minnesota Gophers at home on Fri., March 11th at 6 p.m. Whether or not Missouri will be playing outside at Bethel or inside at the Green Tennis Center is still pending. 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