@MizzouTennis Travels to SEC Tournament, Begins Play Wednesday

COLUMBIA, Mo. – After splitting its weekend matches, Mizzou Tennis (11-13) travels to Nashville, Tenn., for the 2017 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament. The 13-seeded Tigers begin play in the opening round on Wednesday as they face the No. 12 seed Ole Miss Rebels at 1 p.m. CT. The winner moves on to take on No. 5-seed Kentucky at 6 p.m. on Thursday.

#ClutchKenz At it Again

Freshman Mackenzy Middlebrooks continues to show poise in high-leverage situations, clinching the decisive match point for Mizzou for the third time this season.
In Sunday's win over No. 33 Alabama, the overall match was tied 3-3 with Middlebrooks' No. 4 singles match remaining. Despite trailing 3-4, Middlebrooks prevailed in three straight games to seize a clutch 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory and wrap up Mizzou's regular season on a high note.
Earlier during the campaign, Middlebrooks' match-clinching win at No. 6 singles gave the Tigers a 4-3 victory over No. 17 Texas A&M. It was the highest ranked opponent Mizzou has beaten in program history.

Doubles Success

Mizzou claimed the doubles point in both matches over the weekend, taking it from No. 11 Auburn on Friday and securing a crucial doubles point against No. 33 Alabama on Sunday.
Mizzou's top duo, senior Bea Machado Santos and junior Amina Ismail, is ranked No. 17 in the ITA National Doubles Rankings. It's the highest ranking for a Mizzou doubles pairing since 2003.
Santos and Ismail picked up another Top-20 win on Friday, ousting the 16^th-ranked pairing from Auburn. Santos and Ismail have won six consecutive doubles matches. All six of those wins have come against pairings that are currently ranked, including Kentucky's No. 2 duo.
Middlebrooks and partner Cassidy Spearman teamed up for the first time in SEC play this weekend and went 2-0, giving Middlebrooks her first two career SEC doubles wins. The duo's pair of wins proved instrumental in the Tigers seizing the doubles points against both No. 11 Auburn and No. 33 Alabama.
Junior Clare Raley and freshman Tate Schroeder played together for first the time as a doubles pairing this season over the weekend. Raley and Schroeder collected a clutch 6-3 win over Alabama's No. 3 duo and sealed the doubles point for Mizzou that was vital to the team's overall match victory.

Playing Well At the Right Time

In Sunday's win over Alabama, all six Tigers in the lineup picked up at least one victory, either in doubles or singles action, to contribute to the triumph.
While Santos and Ismail were unable to finish to their doubles match with Mizzou clinching the point at No. 2 and No. 3, both collected massive singles victories on Sunday. Santos toppled 15^th-ranked Erin Routliffe in straight sets, 6-0, 7-6 (1) while Ismail outlasted Maddie Pothoff, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Spearman, Middlebrooks, Raley and Schroeder all contributed to doubles victories and Middlebrooks added a match-deciding win at No. 4 singles.

Scouting Ole Miss

Ole Miss is ranked No. 27 in the nation in the latest ITA national team rankings.
The Rebels lost their final five SEC matches after blanking LSU, 4-0, on March 31.
Ole Miss has a pair of players ranked in singles, No. 38 Arianne Hartono and No. 77 Natalie Suk. Hartono has won eight matches over current ranked players this season.
Hartono and partner Anna Vrbenska are ranked No. 21 in the latest ITA National Doubles rankings. The duo lost to Mizzou's Santos and Ismail, 6-3, on March 19, but Ole Miss eventually downed the Tigers, 4-1, in the match.

For all the latest on Mizzou Tennis, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook (MizzouTennis), Twitter (@MizzouTennis) and Instagram (@Mizzou_Tennis).

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@MizzouTennis Travels to SEC Tournament, Begins Play Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Amina Ismail

Bea Machado Santos

Mackenzy Middlebrooks

Clare Raley

Tate Schroeder

Cassidy Spearman

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@MizzouTennis Travels to SEC Tournament, Begins Play Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Amina Ismail

Bea Machado Santos

Mackenzy Middlebrooks

Clare Raley

Tate Schroeder

Cassidy Spearman

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