University of Missouri
No. 24 South Carolina
No. 44 @MizzouTennis Prepares to Host No. 24 South Carolina and No. 1 Florida.
3/23/2017 8:09:00 AM | Tennis
No. 44 Mizzou will face South Carolina on Friday at 5 p.m. and Florida on Sunday at 12 p.m.
| MATCH DAY - Friday, March 24 & Sunday, March 26 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME | MEDIA | |
| No. 24 South Carolina |
Columbia, Mo. |
Friday |
5 p.m. CT |
||
| No. 1 Florida |
Columbia, Mo. |
Sunday |
12 p.m. CT |
||
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 44 Mizzou (10-6, 1-4 SEC) is hoping to continue its strong play at home this weekend as two more top-25 opponents come through the Mizzou Tennis Complex. The Tigers will face the No. 24 South Carolina Gamecocks at 5 p.m. on Friday and the No. 1 Florida Gators at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Mizzou holds a 2-1 record in home matches this season, including a 4-3 victory over No. 17 Texas A&M, the highest ranked team that Mizzou has beaten in program history. Both matches are free to the public and will be held at the Mizzou Tennis Complex.
Phenomenal Freshmen:
- The Tigers have received a major boost from freshmen Tate Schroeder (Centennial, Colo.) and Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). The two have combined for 44 overall victories and have posted a 17-3 combined record in dual singles play.
- Middlebrooks comes into play having won four straight singles matches, including a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 dual clinching victory over No. 17 Texas A&M. She has a 7-1 record in dual singles action and a perfect 3-0 record in conference singles matches.
- Schroeder comes into the weekend leading the team in dual singles wins with 10. She is coming off of a doubles victory in her last match against No. 20 Ole Miss to give her 10 doubles victories in her freshman campaign.
- Together, Middlebrooks and Schroeder have a 71.4 percent combined dual winning percentage and have shown great improvement over the course of their freshman seasons.
Doubles Delight:
- Mizzou earned its first doubles point of conference play against No. 20 Ole Miss last Sunday. Before that, the Tigers had won seven straight doubles points prior to the opening of Southeastern Conference action.
- The Tigers were able to win the point behind the strong play of senior Bea Machado Santos (Lisbon, Portugal) and junior Amina Ismail (Maineville, Ohio) at the No. 1 doubles slot. Together, Santos and Ismail defeated the No. 33-ranked pairing of Arianne Hartono and Anna Vrbenska by a score of 6-3. This was the seventh victory for the pair and the first against ranked opponents.
Scouting South Carolina:
- The Gamecocks enter the weekend ranked No. 24 in the ITA National team rankings. They hold a 11-5 record in duals and a 2-3 record in conference play.
- South Carolina is coming off of a week in which they defeated No. 23 Tennessee and Coastal Carolina at home, but also fell to No. 3 Georgia, 4-0.
- South Carolina is led by two ranked singles players. Ingrid Gamarra Martins is ranked No. 36 while Mia Horvit earned a No. 75 ranking.
Scouting Florida:
- Florida opened this week ranked No. 1 in the nation. They have been the top ranked team every week this season and own a 14-1 record to show for it.
- The Gators suffered their first loss of the season against No. 3 Georgia last week. They had won 13 straight matches prior to that loss.
- Florida leads the nation with six players ranked in the top 125 for singles. Four players are ranked in the top 25 with the other two coming in at No. 35 and No. 68.
