COLUMBIA, Mo. – University of Missouri tennis earned a split on the first weekend of the 2023 season, knocking off Tarleton State, 4-0, and falling to No. 4 Oklahoma, 7-0, at the Headington Family Tennis Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Mizzou moved its dual-meet record to 7-1 on the season.
“We had a productive trip to Oklahoma,” Head Coach Chris Wootton said. “We pushed the national finalist to raise their game and they did and picked up a decisive win over Tarleton State. Overall, a great start for this Tigers squad!”
The Tigers started off the day with a win at No. 3 doubles after Mae Canete and Emelie Schwarte posted a 6-2 victory. No. 1 doubles finished up next with Laura Masic and Inah Canete falling 6-2. The second doubles pairing of Gabriela Martinez and Andrea Artimedi were locked in a seesaw battle with a Top 25 doubles pairing – No. 22 Alexandra Pisareva and Layne Sleeth – but fell 6-4.
Oklahoma swept the singles matches with straight-set wins at No. 2, 4 and 6 singles. Schwarte pushed No. 3 singles to the tiebreaker and Mae Canete dropped a 7-6 (12-10) No. 1 singles heartbreaker in the first set, won the second set and lost the tiebreaker 11-9.
“We fell behind quickly on singles, but our most experienced college players showed the grit that we are known for in the SEC,” Wootton said. “The match lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes, which is one of the longer matches Oklahoma has played in the last few years.”
Missouri came back strong in the second match, picking up the 4-0 win. The Tigers took two of three doubles matches and proceeded to get singles wins from Mae Canete (No. 1), Gabriela…
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