University of Missouri
Ohio State
No. 32 Buckeyes Too Much For Tigers
1/25/2009 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
Jan. 25, 2009
Columbus, Ohio - The Missouri tennis team played their second Big Ten opponent in two days Saturday (Jan. 24) afternoon. This time, the Tigers took on No. 32 Ohio State Buckeyes on their home courts in front of a partisan crowd. The Buckeyes proved to be too much as they defeated the visiting Tigers by a 6-1 margin.
The doubles point was tightly contested, and at one point, all three matches were knotted up 6-6. At No. 1 Cami Hubbs and Christina Keesey narrowly pulled away for the 8-6 win over Jamie Mera and Mallory Weber. In the No. 2 match Sophia Ayala's strong net play and booming serves complimented freshman Danielle Day's ability to repeatedly open up the court with her powerful backhand. The Tigers were able to put away Ohio State's Paloma Escobedo and Julie Blackmore, 8-6. It all came down to the No. 3 match-up between MU's Kaitlin Ritchie and Jessica Guiggioli and OSU's Angela DiPastina and Kristen Flower. The 13th game saw several dueces before Guiggioli's serve was broken, and Kristen Flower then served out the match for the 8-6 win, delivering the doubles point to the Buckeyes.
In singles, the Buckeyes came out strong, and built solid leads in front of their home crowd. The Tigers battled back, however, and were able to chip into each lead, tightening every match. While most of the matches came down to a break here and there, the two best matches for the Tigers were at No. 2 and No. 3. At No. 2 Weber was narrowly edged by a strong Escobedo in a third set tie-breaker.
“I'm really proud of Mallory's growth so far this year,” said cach Blake Starkey. “She's worked on her approach and how she wants to play this game, and has some great things in front of her.”
The lone singles win for the Tigers was at No. 3 where Mera continued her strong freshman campaign defeating sophomore Hubbs 7-5, 7-6 (10-4).
“We took another shot at a really good team today, and we really thought we were going to get that doubles point there,” said Starkey. “These are the types of matches we need to play, and we're seeing some good things, and learning areas where we need to focus. These aren't cupcake matches and the ladies get pretty fired up. Risk nothing, gain nothing. We've got some good things in front of us and we're excited about moving forward.”
Missouri will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 31, with a pair of match-ups. The Tigers will start their day at the Green Tennis Center where they will host Southeast Missouri, play begins at 10 a.m. Mizzou will then travel to St. Louis to face Saint Louis University at 6:30 p.m.
Tennis Match Results
Missouri vs Ohio State
Jan 24, 2009 at Columbus, Ohio
No. 32 Ohio State 6, Missouri 1
Singles
1. Kirsten Flower (OSU) def. Jessica Giuggioli (MIZZOU) 6-0, 6-1
2. Paloma Escobedo (OSU) def. Mallory Weber (MIZZOU) 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8)
3. Jamie Mera (MIZZOU) def. Cami Hubbs (OSU) 7-5, 7-6 (10-4)
4. Julie Blackmore (OSU) def. Kaitlyn Ritchie (MIZZOU) 6-3, 6-4
5. Kelsey Haviland (OSU) def. Danielle Day (MIZZOU) 7-5, 6-3
6. Angela DiPastina (OSU) def. Sofia Ayala (MIZZOU) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles
1. Cami Hubbs/Christina Keesey (OSU) def. Mallory Weber/Jamie Mera (MIZZOU) 8-6
2. Sofia Ayala/Danielle Day (MIZZOU) def. Paloma Escobedo/Julie Blackmore (OSU) 8-6
3. Angela DiPastina/Kirsten Flower (OSU) def. Kaitlyn Ritchie/Jessica Giuggioli (MIZZOU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Missouri 0-2
Ohio State 1-0; National ranking #32
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,1,4,5,3,2)
Attendance-140
Players Mentioned
