Feb. 26, 2015
Schedule| Match Notes|Follow @MSUBearsTennis
SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State women's tennis team travels to Omaha, Neb., for two matches this weekend as the Bears take on the Creighton Blue Jays and Nebraska Omaha Mavericks in nonconference duals on back-to-back days beginning Friday, Feb. 27.
MSU opens play with a 6 p.m. matchup against Creighton at the Hanscom Tennis Center on Friday and will face Omaha starting at 8 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Miracle Hill Golf and Tennis Center.
Last Week
The Bears held their first two home spring dual matches since the program was discontinued in 2006 and earned a split last weekend at Cooper Tennis Complex.
The Bears earned victories at No. 5 singles and No. 1 doubles, but dropped their home opener to Arkansas State, 6-1, on Friday, Feb. 20. The No. 1 doubles team of Miranda Poile and Ema Turudija earned the only victory for the Bears in doubles, registering an 8-6 win over ASU's Julie Gauguery and Victoria Pisani. Anelisse Torrico Moreno's singles matchup was the final contest to wrap up, but the freshman eventually defeated the Red Wolves' Sabina Jeresic 7-5, 6-1, in straight sets at No. 5 singles to score the lone point for MSU against Arkansas State.
It took until tiebreak in the third set of the final singles match of the day, but the Bears found a way to pull out a 4-3 victory over South Dakota State on Saturday, Feb. 21, for MSU's first home victory of the season. After dropping the doubles point, the Bears won matches at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 singles. The dual came down to No. 3 singles, where MSU's Mackenzie Rozell finished off a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5), win over SDSU's Florencia Magni.
About Creighton
The Creighton Blue Jays are 4-7 this season following a 7-0 victory over Hastings on Saturday, Feb. 21, at home. Creighton is led by head coach Tom Lilly, who recently became the Blue Jays' all-time winningest coach in school history in their match versus Hastings. Amanda Noonan leads Creighton this Spring as the only Blue Jay with a winning record (4-2) in singles play, competing primarily at No. 6 singles. The Bears and Blue Jays are set to have their 21st meeting, with MSU holding a 17-3 margin in victories.
About Nebraska Omaha
The Omaha Mavericks are 3-5 overall and own a 1-1 record in The Summit League following a 5-2 victory on Saturday, Feb. 21, over Oral Roberts. Kenzie Hill and Michelle Lo are both 4-4 in singles play to lead the Mavs this season. Omaha and MSU will met for the first time in women's tennis on Saturday.
Finding Their Way
The doubles tandem of Ema Turudija and Rebecca McIsaac have won two-consecutive matches at No. 3 doubles together for the Bears. The duo are 2-1 overall this spring playing together, a sign of what could be seen in the fall. The two also teamed up at the MVC Individual Championships from Oct. 3-5, earning third place behind two wins.
No Freshman Jitters
Freshman Anelisse Torrico Moreno continues to play a major role for the Bears since arriving to MSU at the start of the spring semester. After dropping her first two matches of her career, Torrico Moreno has won five straight matchups, including her most recent win coming a slot higher than usual at No. 4 singles. The native of Bolivia joined the Bears in January and made her first six singles appearances at No. 5 singles. All but one of her wins have come in straight sets, with the one serving as a third-set match tiebreaker.
How the Matches Will be Scored
No-ad scoring will be used in both singles and doubles and three doubles matches will be played to begin the dual. Each match is one set to six, with a tie-break at six-all. The first team to earn two doubles wins earns one team point. Doubles play will be followed by six singles matches (best two of three sets - tie-breaks at six-all). Each singles match is worth one team point.
Follow the Bears
Check out all the latest news and information on Bears tennis at MissouriStateBears.com and follow @MSUBearsTennis for updates throughout the season.
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