University of Missouri
Doubles Championships
Ismail and Santos Set to Represent @MizzouTennis at 2017 NCAA Doubles Tournament
5/24/2017 11:01:00 AM | Tennis
The duo begins play Thursday in Athens, Georgia
| MATCH DAY - Thursday, May 25 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPPONENT | LOCATION | DAY | TIME | MEDIA | |
|
No. 34 Maya Jansen & |
Athens, Ga. |
Thursday |
2 p.m. CT |
||
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Tennis' top doubles duo, junior Amina Ismail (Maineville, Ohio) and senior Bea Machado Santos (Lisbon, Portgual), begin play Thursday at the 2017 NCAA Doubles Tournament in Athens, Georgia. Ismail and Santos, the 10th-ranked pairing in the nation, are set to face California's 34th-ranked pairing, Maya Jansen and Maegan Manasse, in the opening round at 2 p.m. CT.
Making History
- Ismail and Santos are the first Mizzou pairing to clinch a spot in the NCAA Doubles Tournament since 2003.
- The last time a Tiger duo earned a berth in the NCAA Doubles Tournament was Urska Juric and Katka Sevcikova, who advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Marshall before being eliminated in the Round of 16. Ismail and Santos are looking to become the first Mizzou pairing in program history to reach the quarterfinals of the tournament.
- Ismail and Santos secured one of 23 at-large bids after rising to No. 10 in the latest ITA National Rankings, the highest ranking for a Mizzou duo since Juric and Sevcikova were tabbed No. 4 early in the 2003 campaign.
Success Against the Best
- Ismail and Santos piled up quality wins despite a grueling schedule leading up to the NCAA Doubles Tournament, finishing 12-5 as a pairing.
- The duo collected seven wins against pairings ranked in the Top-65 of the latest ITA National Rankings. Ismail and Santos knocked off the fourth-ranked pairing from Kentucky and the ninth-ranked pairing from Florida.
- Ismail and Santos have faced eight duos who earned spots in the NCAA Tournament field that features 32 pairings. Mizzou's twosome is 4-4 against those eight duos with all four of the victories coming against Top 25 opponents.
Hot Streak
- Ismail and Santos have won six of their final seven finished matches, with the lone loss coming against Ole Miss at the SEC Tournament.
- The duo has just three losses since Oct. 16. During a stretch from March 19 to April 14, Ismail and Santos went 6-0, with all six wins coming against ranked pairings.
- Ismail finished the regular season with a team-best .655 doubles winning percentage.
- Santos enters the NCAA Tournament with a team-high 21 doubles victories.
Scouting Cal's Pairing
- Mizzou faced California as a team on Jan. 30 in the second match of the season. Ismail and Santos did not play together, but Santos and partner junior Clare Raley faced Jansen and Manesse, falling, 6-1.
- Jansen and Manesse have won eight of their final nine matches, including a 6-4 victory over the current No. 1 pairing in the nation from Vanderbilt.
- Jansen and Manesse suffered only one loss to an unranked pairing during the 2016-17 campaign and that occurred on Nov. 3.
For all the latest on Mizzou Tennis, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook (MizzouTennis), Twitter (@MizzouTennis) and Instagram (@Mizzou_Tennis).
