The Missouri Tigers excelled across the board in their Saturday doubleheader with two more 4-0 sweeps in the record books
The University of Missouri tennis team returned home on Saturday, Feb. 15 hosting two in-state opponents, Missouri State and Southeast Missouri State, in a doubleheader exhibition.
The first match against MSU resulted in hard-fought doubles from graduate student Lailaa Bashir and freshman addition Zoe Lazar. The duo prevailed 6-4 over the MSU tandem of senior Sandra Lukacova and junior Raluca Puscas.
In singles action, senior Inah Canete fell behind 0-2 early, but a run of 12 straight set wins propelled her to a 6-2, 6-0 win over MSU’s junior Billur Gonlusen. Senior Mary Brumfield comfortably brought home a 6-3, 6-1 victory against MSU sophomore Tuana Gunal, extending the Missouri lead. To close out the matchup, Lazar fended off a late comeback from Puscas, taking the match 6-1, 6-4, resulting in a 4-0 Missouri victory.
After an intermission, Missouri reconvened to face off against SEMO in the second match of the day. Canete and freshman Korina Roso led the doubles section with a 6-0 win on court one against sophomore Maja Bajorek and freshman Mia Mayerová. The Bashir-Lazar pairing also handled business for the second time of the day, taking down graduate student pairing Lera Valeeva and Kristina Kozakova with a score of 6-4 on doubles court two.
Missouri’s success continued into singles play, resulting in commanding victories across the board for the Tigers. Bashir took down Bajorek on court two, 6-1, 6-3, while freshman Gian Octa won 6-1, 6-1, against Mayerová on court four. Roso closed out the day with a statement win on court six, shutting out SEMO junior Claudia Casas 6-0, 6-0, to clinch another 4-0 Tigers victory.
That makes four straight sweeps across 19 wins for Missouri since its lone loss of the season at the University of Minnesota. Missouri is set to host two more home games against Lindenwood and Western Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 22. Then, a 15-game stretch of SEC play opens at home against No. 22 Vanderbilt on Feb 23.
Edited by Killian Wright l kwright@themaneater.com
Copy edited by Hannah Taylor | htaylor@themaneater.com
Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com