Saturday, February 3
Blacksburg, Va.
11 AM
University of Missouri
at
Virginia Tech
@MizzouTennis Makes Lone Road Trip of the Month
2/1/2018 4:46:00 PM | Tennis
Tigers at Virginia Tech, face Radford in Saturday doubleheader
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou Tennis team (5-0) again hits the road this weekend for a Saturday doubleheader at Virginia Tech. The Tigers open play in Blacksburg vs. the Hokies (2-0) at 11 a.m. CT, before wrapping up the trip with a 4 p.m. CT neutral-site matchup with Radford (1-0). It's both the Tigers' only road trip of the month – Mizzou returns home next weekend to begin a 10-match, five-weekend homestand – but also their final non-conference road swing of the season.
LOOKING BACK: TIGERS CAP PERFECT WEEKEND
- For the second straight time, the Tigers are coming off an undefeated weekend of play. Mizzou won at Cornell, 4-2, on Friday, before sweeping Army and Binghamton by identical 4-0 scores during the Tigers' first road trip of the dual-match season in Ithaca, N.Y.
- Mizzou won 15 out of 27 scheduled matches on the weekend, and lost just three (nine were left suspended after either the doubles point or match were clinched for Mizzou).
- Four Tigers finished the weekend undefeated: Senior co-captain Clare Raley (Atlanta, Ga.), sophomore Serena Nash (Bradford, England), sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and freshman Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.). The first two paired up for doubles wins in all three matches and each brought home a singles victory on the weekend, while the latter two went 2-0 both in singles and doubles.
- It's the second straight weekend that Middlebrooks and Wright went 4-0 with pairs of singles and doubles wins.
DOUBLING UP
- Doubles continues to be the strength of the Tigers, as Mizzou has won the doubles point in all five matches this season. In all, Mizzou's doubles teams are 26-15 (.634) on the year.
- Raley and Nash lead the way with a total of 10 doubles wins. Seven of those have come with each other; Raley has also joined Middlebrooks, while Nash has also paired with freshmen Marta Oliveira (Lisbon, Portugal) and Wright.
- Middlebrooks (Wright and Raley) and Wright (freshman Ally Noback, Nash and Middlebrooks) are close behind with eight doubles wins on the season.
MACK'S ON FIRE
- Sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has the hottest singles streak going on the team at the moment; dating back to the fall season, she's won her last 10 singles matches.
- Her streak began after losing her opening match a the ITA Regional Championships in Lawrence, Kan., on Oct. 19. Middlebrooks then roared back through the consolation bracket, winning six straight matches – not dropping a set in the process – in earning the consolation singles title.
- Middlebrooks' 10 singles wins currently leads the team.
FIVE NEWCOMERS
- 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, Oliveira 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 over half (22) of the Tigers' 43 singles wins this season, and have had a hand in 23 of the team's 26 doubles victories.
SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH
- The Hokies opened their Spring season this past weekend at home with a 7-0 sweep of East Tennessee State and a 5-2 win over Appalachian State. Tech's players have an impressive 47-2 team singles record, and a 14-2 doubles mark.
- VT is led by sophomore Natalie Novotna, who was ranked No. 25 in the final fall ITA singles rankings on the strength of claiming the ITA Atlantic Region singles title back in October. She's 8-0 on the season in singles.
- Senior Elena Cerezo-Codina also advanced to the semifinals at the ITA Atlantic Regional, and has a 5-1 singles mark on the year.
SCOUTING RADFORD
- The Highlanders are coached by former Tiger Jessica Giuggioli, who played for Mizzou from 2007-09. She's in her second full season at the helm of Radford's program.
- Radford opened its dual season on Jan. 22 with a 6-1 win at North Carolina A&T.
- A pair of Highlanders, freshman Lotti Meszaros and senior Natalie Sayer, sport identical 7-5 singles records to lead Radford.
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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