FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – No. 41 Mizzou Tennis (9-3, 0-1 SEC) dropped its Southeastern Conference opener, 4-3, to No. 17 Arkansas (10-2, 1-0 SEC) Friday night in Fayetteville, Ark. It was the Tigers' first loss since Feb. 12, snapping a five-match winning streak. Mizzou battled hard to come back from down 3-0, but came up just short for its third loss this season.
Arkansas took the doubles point, winning at No. 1 and No. 2. This was just the third time this season the Tigers have lost the doubles point. They had previously won seven straight, only losing one match in the process.
"It's never easy losing a 4-3 battle," head coach Colt Gaston said. "I felt like we didn't start out playing the way we wanted to in doubles but man am I proud of this team for showing so much heart and fight to give ourselves an opportunity to win. We are never satisfied with a loss but grew a lot as a team tonight. Staying hungry is key in this league and we are going to work hard to get ready for next weekend at home."
In singles play, Mizzou fell behind 3-0 early, but came storming back taking the next three matches including a significant upset at No. 2. Senior Bea Machado Santos (Lisbon, Portugal) got her fourth straight singles victory with a 6-2, 6-4 win over No. 88 Mia Jurasic. This is Santos' first win of the season against a ranked opponent, she had six such wins last season.
The Tigers kept the momentum going when freshman Tate Schroeder (Centennial, Colo.) got her ninth victory of the season, taking the No. 4 match 7-6, 6-0. That cut Mizzou's deficit to 3-2 with two matches still in play.
Freshman Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) tied up the match with a gritty 6-4, 7-6 victory at No. 6. Middlebrooks pushed her singles record to 5-1 this spring and 12-4 overall with the win.
The comeback came up just short as the Razorbacks took the final match to give Arkansas a 4-3 win.
Mizzou is headed back home for its next set of Southeastern Conference matches as the Tigers host No. 20 Texas A&M Friday at 5 p.m. and No. 37 LSU Sunday at 10 a.m. Both matches will be held at the Mizzou Tennis Complex.
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Game-by-Game Results:
Doubles:
No. 1 Shannon Hudson/Giulia Pairone (ARK) def. Brianna Lashway/Clare Raley (MIZ), 6-2
No. 2 Ana Oparenovic/Mia Jurasic (ARK) def. Bea Machado Santos/Cassidy Spearman (MIZ), 6-4
No. 3 Tate Schroeder/ Amina Ismail (MIZ) vs. Natsuho Arakawa/Leolia Jeanjean (ARK), 3-4
Singles:
No. 1 Shannon Hudson (ARK) def. Brianna Lashway (MIZ), 6-7, 6-4, 1-6
No. 2 Bea Machado Santos (MIZ) def. Mia Jurasic (ARK), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Leolia Jeanjean (ARK) def. Cassidy Spearman (MIZ), 6-0, 6-1
No. 4 Tate Schroeder (MIZ) def. Natsuho Arakawa (ARK), 7-6, 6-0
No. 5 Giulia Pairone (ARK) def. Amina Ismail (MIZ), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Mackenzy Middlebrooks (MIZ) def. Agne Cepelyte (ARK), 6-4, 7-6