Kansas State University Athletics
Sunday, February 25
Columbia, Mo.
1 p.m.
Kansas State University
4
at
2
Missouri
No. 35 K-State Notches First Ranked Win of Season vs. No. 49 Mizzou
Feb 25, 2018 | Tennis
Cats move to 7-2 this season
COLUMBIA, Mo. – No. 35 K-State women's tennis handed the 49th-ranked Missouri Tigers their second straight loss, defeating the Tigers 4-2, grabbing its fifth win in its last six tries on Sunday at the Mizzou Tennis Complex.
"Today's team effort was incredible," head coach Danielle Steinberg said after the match. "Mizzou battled and pushed us, and the team responded with so much grit and heart."
K-State (7-2) was coming off a doubleheader on Friday in Manhattan, Kansas, at the Body First Indoor Tennis Center, where it lost its four-match winning streak to No. 42-ranked Nebraska, 4-2. The Cats improve to 25-11 all-time against Missouri, including a 12-6 record in Columbia.
"The strength of a team is measured after struggles and adversity," Steinberg said. "We had a tough loss to Nebraska on Friday and the way this team responded to that loss and showed up today shows me how special this group really is."
The Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead, clinching the doubles point in dramatic fashion and playing two out of three matches to tiebreak. This marks the sixth time in nine matches the Cats have claimed the doubles point, adding a 15-9 record in that span.
"We played with two new doubles teams, against a very good doubles team in Missouri, and the energy was incredible," Steinberg added. "We were disciplined on all three teams, and our No. 1 team showed a lot of guts to win the tiebreaker."
At No. 2 doubles, freshmen Maria Linares and Rosanna Maffei trailed 4-2 against Serena Nash and Clare Raley of Mizzou, but K-State's tandem won its final four games to win 6-4. The pairing picks up its second win this spring season.
Freshman Anna Turco and sophomore Ines Mesquita opened their match with a 5-1 lead, but dropped four straight games and ended by losing its match in tiebreak to the Tigers' Mackenzy Middlebrooks and Ellie Wright, 7-6 (3). The duo, playing the No. 3 position, drops its first match of the spring season.
The point was sealed in tiebreak by freshman Margot Decker and senior Carolina Costamagna, claiming their sixth win of the spring season over Mizzou's Taylor Gruber and Amina Ismail, 7-6 (9-7). The Cats tandem trailed by as much as 3-1 in the match, and were down to its last point in the tiebreak, trailing 6-4. The No. 1 doubles pairing nabbed five of the last six points in tiebreak, capping the doubles victory over the Tigers.
The Cats played five of the six singles matches to the third set, winning two out of four with one match going unfinished. K-State improves to 32-16 this season in singles play.
Maffei moved the Cats' lead to 2-0 with a straight-set victory over Marta Oliveria, 6-1, 6-1. The freshman has now picked up back-to-back wins and improves to 6-3 in her spring campaign.
The 104th-ranked player, Decker, suffered her fourth loss at the No. 1 position of the season against Mizzou's Serena Nash, 6-3, 4-6, 0-6, moving the match to a 2-1 lead for K-State.
The Tigers tied the match at 2-2 after Costamagna fell in three set to Mackenzy Middlebrooks, 6-2, 1-6, 2-6, After winning six of eight games to open the match, the native of Argentina dropped 12 of the next 15 games.
Mesquita muscled out a three-set win over Taylor Gruber of the Tigers, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4, reclaiming a 3-2 lead for the Cats. The sophomore improves to 6-2 this season, picking up her first win at the No. 6 singles position.
Picking up her first victory at the No. 2 position this season, Linares clinched the 4-2 team victory for K-State by defeating Ellie Wright in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The freshman Venezuelan won four of the final five games to clinch her eighth win of the year (8-1).
On Court 5, Turco extended her match to the third set, but the match went unfinished due to K-State nabbing the clinching point. The Italian native was headed to the tiebreak in the third set against Amina Ismail, 4-6, 5-7, 6-6.
The Cats will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia to battle with the William and Mary Tribe on Sunday, March 4 at 10 a.m. at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. Fans can follow results through the official Twitter page of K-State tennis, @KStateTEN.
"Today's team effort was incredible," head coach Danielle Steinberg said after the match. "Mizzou battled and pushed us, and the team responded with so much grit and heart."
K-State (7-2) was coming off a doubleheader on Friday in Manhattan, Kansas, at the Body First Indoor Tennis Center, where it lost its four-match winning streak to No. 42-ranked Nebraska, 4-2. The Cats improve to 25-11 all-time against Missouri, including a 12-6 record in Columbia.
"The strength of a team is measured after struggles and adversity," Steinberg said. "We had a tough loss to Nebraska on Friday and the way this team responded to that loss and showed up today shows me how special this group really is."
The Cats jumped out to a 1-0 lead, clinching the doubles point in dramatic fashion and playing two out of three matches to tiebreak. This marks the sixth time in nine matches the Cats have claimed the doubles point, adding a 15-9 record in that span.
"We played with two new doubles teams, against a very good doubles team in Missouri, and the energy was incredible," Steinberg added. "We were disciplined on all three teams, and our No. 1 team showed a lot of guts to win the tiebreaker."
At No. 2 doubles, freshmen Maria Linares and Rosanna Maffei trailed 4-2 against Serena Nash and Clare Raley of Mizzou, but K-State's tandem won its final four games to win 6-4. The pairing picks up its second win this spring season.
Freshman Anna Turco and sophomore Ines Mesquita opened their match with a 5-1 lead, but dropped four straight games and ended by losing its match in tiebreak to the Tigers' Mackenzy Middlebrooks and Ellie Wright, 7-6 (3). The duo, playing the No. 3 position, drops its first match of the spring season.
The point was sealed in tiebreak by freshman Margot Decker and senior Carolina Costamagna, claiming their sixth win of the spring season over Mizzou's Taylor Gruber and Amina Ismail, 7-6 (9-7). The Cats tandem trailed by as much as 3-1 in the match, and were down to its last point in the tiebreak, trailing 6-4. The No. 1 doubles pairing nabbed five of the last six points in tiebreak, capping the doubles victory over the Tigers.
The Cats played five of the six singles matches to the third set, winning two out of four with one match going unfinished. K-State improves to 32-16 this season in singles play.
Maffei moved the Cats' lead to 2-0 with a straight-set victory over Marta Oliveria, 6-1, 6-1. The freshman has now picked up back-to-back wins and improves to 6-3 in her spring campaign.
The 104th-ranked player, Decker, suffered her fourth loss at the No. 1 position of the season against Mizzou's Serena Nash, 6-3, 4-6, 0-6, moving the match to a 2-1 lead for K-State.
The Tigers tied the match at 2-2 after Costamagna fell in three set to Mackenzy Middlebrooks, 6-2, 1-6, 2-6, After winning six of eight games to open the match, the native of Argentina dropped 12 of the next 15 games.
Mesquita muscled out a three-set win over Taylor Gruber of the Tigers, 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-4, reclaiming a 3-2 lead for the Cats. The sophomore improves to 6-2 this season, picking up her first win at the No. 6 singles position.
Picking up her first victory at the No. 2 position this season, Linares clinched the 4-2 team victory for K-State by defeating Ellie Wright in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The freshman Venezuelan won four of the final five games to clinch her eighth win of the year (8-1).
On Court 5, Turco extended her match to the third set, but the match went unfinished due to K-State nabbing the clinching point. The Italian native was headed to the tiebreak in the third set against Amina Ismail, 4-6, 5-7, 6-6.
The Cats will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia to battle with the William and Mary Tribe on Sunday, March 4 at 10 a.m. at the McCormack-Nagelsen Tennis Center. Fans can follow results through the official Twitter page of K-State tennis, @KStateTEN.
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