University of Missouri
Oklahoma
Tigers Thump Sooners in Big 12 Opener, 5-2
3/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 1, 2009
Columbia, Mo. – In front of their largest home crowd of the season the Missouri Tigers (5-4, 1-0 Big 12) opened conference play in winning fashion. After dropping the doubles point Missouri went on to record five singles victories and earned their first win over the University of Oklahoma (3-5, 0-1 Big 12) since Feb. 18, 2001 when the Tigers earned a 6-1 victory over the Sooners. Sunday's win is just the second by Mizzou in MU/OU women's tennis history; both wins were recorded under head coach Blake Starkey. Play began at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday and finished shortly before 6:00 inside the Green Tennis Center.
Oklahoma took the doubles point after recording a victory at No. 2 and at No. 1 in the tie-breaking set. In the No. 3 match-up Sofia Ayala and Danielle Day would again record a doubles victory, 8-5, their eighth of the spring season together, a team-high.
The Tigers went into singles action looking for four victories. At No. 1 Mallory Weber suffered her seventh loss of the season to undefeated Sooner Ana-Maria Constantinescu in two sets. The Oklahoma sophomore is 7-0 this spring. Though, that would be the only win for the Sooners in singles. Missouri went on the snag matches at No. 2 through No. 6, three matches going into three sets. Jamie Mera took her opponent to three sets along with Oklahoma-native Kaitlyn Ritchie at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots, respectively. Both Tigers recorded victories tying the team score at two.
At No. 2 Maria Kalashnikova pushed Jessica Giuggioli to the limit testing her conditioning, but Giuggioli's deep ball proved too much for the Sooner. Senior Giuggioli ended a nearly three-hour match in a tie-breaking third set and gave the Tigers a one-point lead with two singles matches remaining.
Day headed to the courts before Giuggioli and Ritchie finished while the Tigers were trailing in the team score. Not wasting anytime Day took the first set 7-5 before dominating the second, 6-0 and earning the Tigers fourth team point.
“I didn't know what had happened on the other courts, so I didn't know my win would seal the team victory,” said Day. “It felt really good. All the girls were really excited. We were having a lot of fun out there. Everyone was really loud and we were feeding off of that.”
For the past seven years the Tigers have been out-matched by the Sooners either 4-3, or 5-2. Coach Starkey is excited to see the streak broken.
“Look at that scoreboard,” said Starkey. “That's awesome. That is why we played such a tough pre-season schedule. Everything is starting to pay off. We had a great crowd today, the best we've had in a long time. Our fans are making this a tough place for opponents to come and play in. Credit Oklahoma, they are a great team and will do great things this year. Today was our day. This is what we've been waiting for. This feels really good.”
The Tigers will take a week off before continuing conference play in the Green Tennis Center. Missouri will host Oklahoma State on Friday, Feb. 13, play beginning at 5:00 p.m.
Final Team Score: Missouri 5, Oklahoma 2
Complete Doubles Results
No. 1 Constantinescu/Kalashnikova (OKLA) vs. Giuggioli/Ritchie (MIZ) 9-8 (4)
No. 2 Radan/Lancaster (OKLA) vs. Weber/Mera (MIZ) 8-6
No. 3 Ayala/Day (MIZ) def. Eckel/Huet (OKLA) 8-5
Complete Singles Results
No. 1 Ana-Maria Constantinescu (OKLA) def. Mallory Weber (MIZ) 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 Jessica Giuggioli (MIZ) def. Maria Kalashnikova (OKLA) 6-0, 6-7, 6-4
No. 3 Jamie Mera (MIZ) def. Kristina Radan (OKLA) 6-1, 1-6, 6-2
No. 4 Kaityln Ritchie (MIZ) def. Peta Maree Lancaster (OKLA) 1-6, 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Danielle Day (MIZ) def. Tara Eckel (OKLA) 7-5, 6-1
No. 6 Sofia Ayala (MIZ) def. Marie-Pier Huet (OKLA) 6-3, 6-0
Order of finish… 1, 3, 4, 2, 5, 6
Players Mentioned
