@MizzouTennis Set For Trio of Weekend Matches

Friday, February 23

Columbia, Mo.

1:30 PM

Missouri

(#30) Wichita State

2/21/2018 3:43:00 PM | Tennis

Live Stream: Kansas State Live Stats: Kansas State Live Stats: UMKC Season Stats Individual Results

Tigers face Wichita State Friday, K-State & UMKC Sunday

COLUMBIA, Mo. – For the third straight weekend, the No. 49-ranked Mizzou Tennis team (10-1) is at home for two days of competition, but the Tigers will have three matches over the course of those two days for the first time in a month: Mizzou plays No. 30 Wichita State (8-3) at 1:30 p.m. on Friday before facing No. 35 Kansas State (5-1) and UMKC (5-4) in a Sunday doubleheader that begins at 1 p.m. Please note that Friday's match time is a change from what appears on Mizzou's schedule released at the beginning of the season.

RANKINGS UPDATE: MIZZOU IN AT NO. 49

For the first time since early April of last season, the Tigers are back in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings, debuting this season at No. 49.
The Tigers spent time in the rankings a total of seven times last year, peaking at a program-record No. 31.

LOOKING BACK: MIZZOU NOTCHES WINS OVER MINNESOTA, MEMPHIS

The Tigers started last weekend with a thrilling 4-3 win over Minnesota on Friday night. A dual that started nearly 5-1/2 hours earlier concluded when senior co-captain Clare Raley (Atlanta, Ga.) registered a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 win over the Golden Gophers' River Hart in the only match left on the Mizzou Tennis Complex courts.
Minnesota (7-2) twice tied the match, and took a 3-2 lead after wins at Nos. 1-3 singles, but Mizzou's senior co-captains came through. Amina Ismail (Maineville, Ohio) notched a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 win over Caitlyn Merzbacher at No. 5 to tie things up before Raley's clincher.
Mizzou then cruised to its fifth straight win Sunday afternoon with a 4-2 triumph over Memphis to again sweep the home weekend.
Memphis (6-4) tied things up at 1-1 after a win at No. 1 singles, but the Tigers retook a 2-1 lead after sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) notched her team-leading 14th consecutive singles win of the season. Her 6-2, 7-5 win over Laura Bente also kept her undefeated in dual matches this season at 8-0.
Memphis then gave the match its second tie of the afternoon with a three-set win at the No. 2 slot before Mizzou took control. Ismail rolled to a 6-0, 6-4 win over Claire Sullivan at No. 5, before freshman Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.) clinched the match with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 comeback win over Alisha Reayer.

DOUBLING UP

Doubles continues to be the strength of the Tigers, as Mizzou has won the doubles point in all 11 matches this season. In all, Mizzou's doubles teams are 38-20 (.655) on the year, and 23-7 (.767) in dual play.
Middlebrooks (Wright and Raley) and Wright (Noback, Nash and Middlebrooks) lead the way with 13 doubles wins each on the season. Ten of those have come with each other, including a 9-1 mark in dual play. Middlebrooks has also paired with Raley this year, while Wright has also teamed up with sophomore Serena Nash (Bradford, England) and freshman Ally Noback (Alpharetta, Ga.)
Raley and Nash are close behind with 12 total doubles wins, including nine together.

MACK'S ON FIRE

Sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has the hottest singles streak going on the team at the moment; dating back to the fall season, she's won her last 14 singles decisions.
Her streak began after losing her opening match a the ITA Regional Championships in Lawrence, Kan., on Oct. 19. Middlebrooks then roared back through the consolation bracket, winning six straight matches – not dropping a set in the process – in earning the consolation singles title.
Middlebrooks' 14 singles wins currently leads the team, as does her 8-0 singles record in dual play (5-0 at No. 3, 3-0 at No. 4).

FIVE NEWCOMERS

Second-year Head Coach Colt Gaston has assembled a mix of veteran talent and young newcomers with this season's roster.
Four Tigers – Nash, a sophomore transfer from Oklahoma; and freshmen Wright, Oliveira and Noback – made their team debuts in the fall.
A fifth – Taylor Gruber (Spicewood, Texas) – signed with Mizzou in November, graduated early from high school and joined the team in January.
The newcomers have accounted for nearly half (28) of the Tigers' 60 singles wins this season, and have had a hand in 34 of the team's 37 doubles victories.

SCOUTING WICHITA STATE

The Shockers entered the ITA rankings at No. 30 this week, and also feature a pair of ranked singles players in Fatima Bizhukova (No. 71) and Sandra Honigova (No. 106).
Wichita State is 8-3 in the dual season, and is coming off a 4-3 loss at Nebraska this past Sunday to break a five-match win streak.
The Shockers are the second straight opponent that has already played in Columbia once this season. WSU played in the Mizzou Invitational back in September.
- The tournament was individually-based, so no team dual matches were played.
- Mizzou's doubles teams went 0-2 against WSU in that tournament, while the Shockers won three out of the five singles matchups over the course of that weekend.
Bizhukova is 12-6 this season, including 5-1 at No. 1 singles in dual play.

SCOUTING KANSAS STATE

The Wildcats have also entered the ITA rankings at No. 35 this week. KSU also features freshman Margot Decker, the No. 104-ranked singles player in the country.
Kansas State is 5-1 on the season, and has a four-match winning streak of its own after taking a 4-1 victory at Colorado last Sunday. The Wildcats have a doubleheader at home this Friday vs. Nebraska and Akron prior to traveling to Columbia.
KSU also competed in the Mizzou Invitational back in September. The doubles teams split a pair of matches, while K-State took three out of four singles matches.
Entering this weekend, Decker is 3-3 at No. 1, while Ines Mesquita is unbeaten at 5-0 at No. 5.
In the dual season, K-State is 22-10 (.688) in singles, and 10-5 (.667) in doubles.

SCOUTING UMKC

The Kangaroos are 5-4 after outlasting South Dakota, 4-3, last Saturday, and face Akron at home on Saturday before coming to Columbia. UMKC has already faced WSU (L, 7-0) and KSU (L, 4-0) this season.
Aliona Ladutska is 4-3 at No. 1 singles, and 7-4 overall this year.
Ioanna Lathouri is undefeated at 4-0 this season, including her only dual match this season at No. 6.
UMKC is 22-24 (.478) in singles in dual play this season, and 13-12 (.520) in doubles.

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