Missouri women’s tennis returned to Columbia for its first home match of the season against Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
After entering the ITA national team rankings this week as the No. 31 team in the nation, the Tigers were able to give fans a taste of just how impressive their play has been so far this season. The Tigers swept the doubles matches to get the early 1-0 advantage and then rattled off three straight wins in singles to clinch the match. After agreeing to finish out the remaining matches, Missouri finished with a 5-2 advantage.
Junior Amina Ismail and freshman Tate Schroeder continued to have no problem in doubles competition. The pairing swiftly gave the Tigers the doubles lead with a 6-2 victory.
The senior pairing of Bea Machado Santos and Cassidy Spearman came into the match with a 6-0 record, and they stayed hot, improving to 7-0 with a 6-4 victory. Spearman credited the pairing’s experience and friendship for their prevalent success.
“We’re really close as teammates and best friends, so I think that helps us out with chemistry on court,” Spearman said. “Today, she helped me a lot. I was nervous in the beginning. and she called me out; she was able to do that because of how close we are.”
In singles, the home fans were treated to several close matches, including an impressive comeback by Spearman to cap off the afternoon.
Schroeder came out firing and got the Tigers on the board. She improved her singles record to 8-1 this spring.
After the match, Missouri coach Colt Gaston gave credit to Schroeder for her outstanding play this season.
“She has matured a lot, how she is hitting the ball, how she is constructing points, but Tate really wants it,” Gaston said. “She’s really hungry. She comes into practice and does a great job every single day … I think that she will continue to rise and continue to do big things for this program.”
Santos delivered the Tigers a 3-0 lead, holding off her opponent in a fairly competitive match with a final score of 6-3, 6-4. She has collected three straight singles wins after starting the season 1-4.
Spearman looked in for a long day after she surrendered her first singles set 6-0. In the second set, however, she looked like a different player. She took complete control, powering her way back to even up the match at one apiece. Spearman found herself in an even tougher spot during the third set down 5-2, but she was able to regain her composure, roaring back to take the set by a final of 7-5.
The senior praised the home crowd for providing the spark to fuel her comeback.
“I didn’t think about the score,” Spearman said. “Brianna [Lashway] was fighting next to me, and my teammates were being loud and the crowd was being loud, so I focused on the energy instead of the points.”
The Tigers begin Southeastern Conference competition next Friday as they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks. Missouri will look to improve on its 3-10 conference record from a year ago.
_Edited by Eli Lederman | elederman@themaneater.com_
