Mizzou tennis now sits in last place in the Southeastern Conference after handing the Kentucky Wildcats their first conference win of the season. This loss was soon followed by a 4-0 sweep from the Tennessee Volunteers. The Tigers remain winless in the SEC, having not won a conference game in over a year.
The first match of the weekend against the Wildcats started with a win for the Tigers. The sophomore pairing of Zoe Lazar and Korina Roso rattled off a 6-2 victory to start the day. This ended up being the only doubles match won over the course of the weekend, as sophomore Gian Octa and freshman Lara Quaglia lost their match 6-0, followed by freshman Alex Ackman and senior Andrea Artimedi falling 6-3.
Octa secured the only singles point of the day in a thrilling seventh point tiebreaker, leading to a 6-3, 7-5 victory for the Tigers. Artimedi, Ackman and Roso all fell to their opponents, granting Kentucky the 4-1 victory on the day.
Mizzou then traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee two days later to face off against the No.12-ranked Volunteers. The Tigers were once again handily outmatched. Doubles started with both pairs of Ackman and Artimedi, and Octa and Quaglia losing their matches 6-2. Roso and Lazar were in a competitive 5-4 match that ultimately went unfinished.
Singles results didn’t vary much, with Octa and Ackman losing both their matches 6-0, 6-2, followed by Lazar losing 6-2, 6-2. The Volunteers captured the 4-0 victory to improve to 6-5 in the SEC. Artimedi, Quaglia and Roso’s matches went unfinished.
The Tigers are heading into their 12th conference game Thursday, April 2, against the Arkansas Razorbacks. They are yet to truly compete against an SEC opponent and remain the only team in the conference yet to secure a win.
