Thursday, March 29
Columbia, S.C.
4:30 PM
University of Missouri
at
(#6) South Carolina
@MizzouTennis Heads East For Pair of SEC Matches
3/28/2018 1:28:00 PM | Tennis
Tigers at South Carolina Thursday, Florida Saturday
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou Tennis team (11-10, 0-7 SEC) once again hits the road for a pair of SEC matches against the league's top two teams to conclude its spring break. The Tigers play at No. 6 South Carolina (16-3, 8-0) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. CT, then travel to Gainesville, Fla., to face No. 12 Florida (12-5, 7-1) on Saturday at 10 a.m. CT.
KILLER SCHEDULE CONTINUES
- Mizzou's 2018 schedule continues to pack a wallop. By the end of this week, the Tigers' last nine matches – and 11 of its last 12 – will have come against teams in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings.
- As the nation's premier tennis conference, the SEC leads all leagues with eight teams in the ITA's Top 25; Mizzou has played half of them to date (No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 20 Kentucky, No. 25 Mississippi State). In addition, the SEC has a nation's-best 12 schools in the full ITA national rankings.
- Thursday's match vs. South Carolina is the second of four consecutive matches against a team ranked in the top 15. After this weekend, Mizzou hosts No. 15 Auburn a week from Friday.
- Mizzou is 11-1 vs. unranked competition this season.
HOMETOWN GIRL... RETURNS HOME
- Freshman Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.) is in a unique situation on Saturday, as she'll be competing in the town she's called home for the past eight years, and will then return to Columbia, where her family had lived previously.
- Wright is a graduate of F.W. Buchholz High School, where she helped the Bobcats to a sixth-place finish at the state tournament.
- Both of her parents, Randy and Cortney, are Mizzou alums, and Cortney played for the Tigers when she was in school.
- Wright isn't the only Florida native making a homecoming; her doubles partner, Mackenzy Middlebrooks, hails from Fort Lauderdale.
LOOKING BACK
- Mizzou welcomed its alumni home last weekend for a pair of matches.
- On Friday, the Tigers won the doubles point and forced third sets in all four singles matches, but No. 24 Mississippi State posted a 4-1 win.
- Sunday afternoon, the team showed several bright spots, yet No. 11 Ole Miss registered a 4-1 win.
- Sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and freshman Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.) swept their doubles matches over the course of the weekend, and are undefeated in their last four doubles matches.
- The duo ran their season record to 16-3 (15-2 dual, 3-1 SEC) with a convincing 6-1 win at No. 3. The Rebels (13-5, 4-4) would take the other two matches to win the doubles point.
- Freshman Taylor Gruber (Spicewood, Texas) won for the sixth time this season on Sunday, fighting back from a 6-1 first-set hole to take the final two sets, 7-6 (5) and 6-2.
DOUBLING UP
- Doubles continues to be the strength of the Tigers, as Mizzou has won the doubles point in 14 of 21 matches this season. In all, Mizzou's doubles teams are 50-35 (.588) on the year, and 35-22 (.614) in dual play.
- Middlebrooks and Wright lead the way with 19 doubles wins each on the season. Sixteen of those have come with each other, including a 15-2 mark in dual play.
- They're undefeated in their last four doubles matches, and have won nine of their last 10 decisions.
- Sophomore Serena Nash (Bradford, England) is close behind with 16 total doubles wins.
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, Marta Oliveira (Lisbon, Portugal) and Ally Noback (Alpharetta, Ga.) – 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 (35) of the Tigers' 72 singles wins this season, and have had a hand in 47 of the team's 50 doubles victories.
SCOUTING SOUTH CAROLINA
- The Gamecocks are alone atop the SEC standings with a perfect 8-0 record, but still must face the two one-loss teams, Florida and Vanderbilt. In a scheduling quirk, Thursday's match begins a five-match homestand for South Carolina to complete the regular season.
- USC's last losses came to No. 4 Duke and No. 14 UCLA the weekend of Feb. 9-11 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
- Hadley Berg is the highest-ranked South Carolina player; she's 21-5 this season, including 5-2 in SEC play. Ingrid Gamarra Martins (16-4, 4-1 SEC) is ranked No. 46.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
- The Gators are on a three-match win streak, and are just a match behind South Carolina in the SEC standings.
- Florida has three players in the singles rankings: Anna Danilina (19), Josie Kuhlman (49) and Brooke Austin (52).
- On the doubles side, Danilina is paired with Victoria Emma for the No. 23 ITA doubles ranking.
For all the latest on Mizzou Tennis, stay tuned to mutigers.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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