Thursday, March 15
College Station, Texas
3 PM
University of Missouri
at
(#42) Texas A&M
@MizzouTennis Hits the Road vs. A&M, LSU
3/14/2018 3:26:00 PM | Tennis
Tigers face No. 42 Aggies Thursday, No. 43 Tigers Saturday
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Mizzou Tennis team (11-6, 0-3 SEC) hits the road for the first time in six weeks, as the Tigers head south for a pair of SEC matches. Mizzou takes on No. 42 Texas A&M (10-4, 1-3) in College Station, Texas, on Thursday at 3 p.m., then travels to Baton Rouge, La., to play No. 43 LSU (10-4, 1-3) at Noon on Saturday.
LOOKING BACK
- The Mizzou Tennis team put up a good fight against the defending SEC champions, but No. 4 Vanderbilt prevailed in a 4-1 decision Friday afternoon at the Mizzou Tennis Complex.
- The Tigers captured the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 (and a lead at No. 3 when play was suspended due to the clinched point) before Vanderbilt took the first four singles decisions.
- On Sunday, No. 17 Kentucky registered a 4-0 win.
- Senior Amina Ismail (Maineville, Ohio) and sophomore Serena Nash (Bradford, England) swept their doubles matches at No. 2 last weekend, beating Vanderbilt's Christina Rosca and Amanda Meyer, 6-4, before dispatching Kentucky's Lesedi Jacobs and Brianna Tulloch, 6-1.
MACK'S ON FIRE
- Sophomore Mackenzy Middlebrooks (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has one of the best records in the entire Southeastern Conference.
- Dating back to the fall season, she's 18-1 in her last 19 singles decisions, and is 12-1 in dual-match play.
- Middlebrooks won 18 straight matches dating back to the ITA Regional Championships in October.
- Her 18 singles wins currently leads the team, as does her 12-1 singles record in dual play.
DOUBLING UP
- Doubles continues to be the strength of the Tigers, as Mizzou has won the doubles point in 13 of 17 matches this season. In all, Mizzou's doubles teams are 45-28 (.616) on the year, and 30-16 (.667) in dual play.
- Middlebrooks and freshman Ellie Wright (Gainesville, Fla.) lead the way with 16 doubles wins each on the season. Thirteen of those have come with each other, including a 12-2 mark in dual play.
- The duo have won eight of their last nine matches.
- Sophomore Serena Nash (Bradford, England) is close behind with 15 total doubles wins, including a perfect 2-0 record in SEC play with senior co-captain Amina Ismail (Maineville, Ohio).
FIVE NEWCOMERS
- Second-year 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, Marta Oliveira (Lisbon, Portugal) 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 nearly half (32) of the Tigers' 69 singles wins this season, and have had a hand in 42 of the team's 45 doubles victories.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
- The No. 42 Aggies (10-4, 1-3) are coming off a pair of 4-0 losses at then-No. 11 South Carolina and No. 22 Florida.
- Texas A&M's No. 1 player, Domenica Gonzalez, is ranked No. 111 in the latest ITA rankings.
SCOUTING LSU
- The No. 43 Tigers (10-4, 1-3) dropped the same pair of matches as the Aggies last weekend, but were able to snag a win at No. 3 singles.
- LSU has a single player, Jessica Golovin, ranked at No. 67. LSU's top doubles team, Golovin and Eden Richardson, is ranked No. 50.
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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