The Missouri tennis team hosted three matches over the weekend, competing in an exhibition doubleheader against Lindenwood and Western Illinois on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Tigers then kicked off SEC play, starting by hosting No. 31 Vanderbilt on Sunday, Feb. 23.

Match one against Lindenwood saw freshman Andrea Artimedi and graduate student Lailaa Bashir sweep opposing sophomores Fabiana Labrador and Sarah Ben Aba 6-0 on doubles court two. Freshman pair Gian Octa and Sarah Hartel followed suit on doubles court three, taking down Lions freshman Megan Caffin and senior Yana Gaskell with a 6-1 final score.

To open up the singles portion, Octa claimed victory over Caffin again on court three, this time 6-1, 6-0. Bashir faced off with Labrador again, this time in singles competition. Bashir was victorious, earning a 6-0, 6-2 win on court one. Artimedi closed out the exhibition with a 6-3, 6-1 win on court two against Lions junior Michelle Trochez, resulting in a 4-0 win for Missouri.

Later in the day, the Tigers regrouped to play Western Illinois. Bashir and Artimedi once again led off with a 6-1 doubles win over Western Illinois freshman Mana Fawcett and senior Paige Grice on court two. Missouri senior Inah Canete and freshman Korina Roso grabbed their first wins of the day after their previous matches went unfinished. On doubles court one, the duo won 6-2 against freshman Chloe Routier and junior Nour Gueblaoui.

Artimedi earned her fourth win of the day with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Grice on singles court two. Roso finished soon after with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Fawcett on court three. Canete finished the match with the closest result of the day, a 6-3, 6-4 win over Routier on singles court one. Her victory earned Missouri yet another sweep, its sixth in a row at that point, dating back to Feb. 9.

On Sunday, the Tigers suited up for their much-anticipated matchup against No. 31 Vanderbilt. The doubles section came to an abrupt conclusion, with two of Missouri’s worst losses on the season by score. Bashir and Octa fell to Commodores sophomore Valeria Ray and freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar, with a final score of 6-2 on court three. Tigers senior Mary Brumfield and Artimedi lost their match as well, as Vanderbilt juniors Sonya Macavei and Bridget Stammel secured a 6-2 victory on court two to end the section.

Bashir highlighted the singles play for Missouri, but still failed to win her matchup, ultimately falling 6-4, 6-3 to Ray on court two. Canete lost 6-0, 6-2 on court one against former No. 3 ranked senior Célia-Belle Mohr. The rest of the Tigers went winless in the remaining singles matchups.

After a string of exhibition sweeps from Missouri, this marks the first time they have been swept on the season, with Vanderbilt claiming a 7-0 win. The 8-2 Tigers will look to bounce back in their next matchup against No. 21 Alabama, which takes place at 11 a.m. at home on Friday, Feb. 28.

Edited by Killian Wright l kwright@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Natalie Kientzy | nkientzy@themaneater.com 

Edited by Annie Goodykoontz | agoodykoontz@themaneater.com