At one point during the Missouri women’s tennis team’s match against Texas A&M on Friday, Missouri freshman Alex Clark was playing in the only singles match yet to be completed.

Clark dropped the first set of the match, but mounted a furious comeback and forced a third-set tiebreaker. The rest of her teammates, as well as the coaching staff, lined up on the court beside the one Clark was playing on, and cheered her on enthusiastically.

At first, that scenario might not seem too remarkable, but five Tigers players cheering on Clark had all just been defeated in each of their singles matches.

On top of that, once Missouri sophomore Rachel Stuhlmann lost her singles match, and the Tigers fell behind 4-0, the overall match was over. The result of Clark’s match was irrelevant, as Texas A&M had already locked up the victory.

But while every Tiger player lined up on that court to watch Clark play, only a few Texas A&M players focused their attention on the match, and they certainly weren’t motivating Clark’s opponent Janelle Cuthbertson to the degree Missouri players were for Clark.

This created quite the interesting environment, senior Jamie Mera said.

“If you looked out on the courts, with the way everyone was cheering, you couldn’t really tell what the score was,” Mera said after Missouri’s 6-1 loss to Texas A&M on Friday.

That environment was not created by accident. The Tigers realize winning does not just come about from proficient technical skills.
“If we want to become a great team we have to act like a great team,” Mera said. “And that includes having a positive attitude.”

And that mentality has led to some impressive wins for the Tigers this season, such as their 7-0 sweep against Saint Louis and 6-1 victory over No. 62 Virginia Tech.

After Clark, with the support of her teammates, won the third-set tiebreaker Friday, doubles play began, where the positive attitude was once again evident.

Chants of “Let’s go, Tigers!” and doubles partners giving one another high fives were just as prevalent as they had been during the Tigers first three home matches, which were all victories.

That is not because the Tigers were okay with losing or lack competitiveness. The players understand how important showing emotions can be in a tennis match.

“Even though the overall match was over, we stayed positive because we just never want to look defeated,” senior Nina Pantic said. “You give your opponents an advantage when you appear down.”

Tiger players also find ways to stay positive through one another. They aren’t just teammates, but friends as well, coach Sasha Schmid said.

“They’re very close, even when off the tennis court,” Schmid said. “Win or lose, they know their teammates will cheer for them, which is essential for success.”