University of Missouri
Texas Tech
Tech Narrowly Edges Tigers For Fourth Team Point
3/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Tennis
March 27, 2009
Columbia, Mo. - After more than five hours of play with five matches that went into tie-breaking sets the No. 58 Missouri tennis team was beaten by the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 4-3. Tech earned the doubles point and three singles victories to record their second win in conference play, seventh on the spring season. With the loss the Tigers fall to 7-5 on the spring season, 3-2 against Big 12 competition. Play began at 5:00 p.m. inside Green Tennis Center and featured a round of doubles followed by a round of singles play.
Competiton heated up quickly beginning with doubles play. At the No. 2 spot Jessica Giuggioli and Kaitlyn Ritchie went back and forth with Stefanie Peana and Kerryn Potgieter before narrowly falling to the Red Raiders, 8-5. Side-by-side the No. 1 and No. 3 matches went into tie-breaking sets but both resulted in a Red Raider victory, giving Tech the doubles point.
The team score was tied at three and came down to the No. 5 match between Danielle Day and Peana of Tech. After dropping the first set Day rallied to take the second and forced a tie-breaking third set. Day, who was in the same position against Oklahoma State, battled hard in front of a large home crowd, but was edged by Peana in the third set, 6-3. The point gave the Red Raiders their fourth of the evening and the team win.
"This was a tough loss, but I don't know if I've ever been more proud of the way we've played. We've had some distractions and we've had some things to overcome this week and this is a match where a weaker group of people would have gotten blown out," said coach Blake Starkey. "There were two strong teams out there tonight. Either team could have won it, and one team barely did. We've got one of the best teams in the country coming in here on Sunday and it's a no-lose situation for us. We're going to come back and play as hard as we can."
The Tigers will be back in action Sunday (March 29) as the play host to the Baylor Bears. Matches begin at noon at the Green Tennis Center, indoors or outdoors, according to the weather.
Final Team Score: Texas Tech 4, Missouri 3
Complete Doubles Results
No. 1 Samantha van der Drift and Kelsy Garland (TTU) def. Mallory Weber and Jamie Mera (MIZ) 9-8 (14)
No. 2 Stefanie Peana and Kerryn Potgieter (TTU) def. Jessica Giuggioli and Kaitlyn Ritchie (MIZ) 8-5
No. 3 Natalie Leitch and Simone Templeton (TTU) def. Sofia Ayala and Danielle Day (MIZ) 9-8 (4)
Complete Singles Results
No. 1 Samantha van der Drift (TTU) def. Jessica Giuggioli (MIZ) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3)
No. 2 Mallory Weber (MIZ) def. Kelsy Garland (TTU) 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Jamie Mera (MIZ) def. Simone Templeton (TTU) 4-6, 7-5, 6-2
No. 4 Natalie Leitch (TTU) def. Kaitlyn Ritchie (MIZ) 6-4, 6-4
No. 5 Stefanie Peana (TTU) def. Danielle Day (MIZ) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
No. 6 Maureen Modesto (MIZ) def. Kerryn Potgieter (TTU) 6-4, 6-2
Players Mentioned
