SURPRISE, Ariz. – Junior Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and sophomore Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.) of the Mizzou tennis team suffered a first round loss to a top 10 doubles team Wednesday during first round action at the 2018 Oracle ITA National Fall Championships at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex in Surprise, Ariz.

The Tiger duo, who are one of 32 doubles teams that qualified for the Championships, fell to No. 9 Megan Kauffman and Lauren Proctor of Winthrop, 7-5, 6-3, in the first round. They continue play in the doubles consolation bracket Thursday afternoon.

Middlebrooks and Wright are only the second Mizzou doubles team to ever qualify for the ITA National Fall Championships, which replaced the ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships last season, as former Tigers Urska Juric and Katka Sevcikova earned selections in 2001 and 2002. 

QUOTABLES

Mizzou Head Coach Colt Gaston
"I thought Mackenzy and Ellie improved on a lot of things we've been working on in practice. Winthrop was just the better team today. We are looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and working on executing the big points a little better."

RESULTS

First Round
No. 9 Megan Kauffman/Lauren Proctor (WIN) def. Mackenzy Middlebrook/Ellie Wright (MIZ), 7-5, 6-3