Spartans Advance to Title Match with Wins Over STLCOP, Missouri Valley
STLCOP RESULTS
MVC RESULTS
WEBSTER GROVES, Mo. – The Missouri Baptist University women's tennis team is just one win shy of earning an automatic bid to the NAIA Women's Tennis National Championship following its 5-0 quarterfinal sweep over No. 7-seed St. Louis College of Pharmacy and a hard-fought 5-3 victory over No. 3-seed Missouri Valley College on Friday.
Improving to 14-3 on the year, the Spartans will look for win No. 15 and an upset against the No. 1 overall seed for the Unaffiliated Group Tournament (AMC/HAAC) and the NAIA's eighth-ranked team, William Woods University. Earlier this season, MBU won the top three singles positions in a 6-3 loss to the then-No. 7 Owls.
The championship match for the Unaffiliated Group Tournament is set for 9 a.m. Saturday and will be held at Tower Grove Park.
(RV) Missouri Baptist University 5, Missouri Valley College 3
No. 1 doubles was a back-and-forth battle with momentum shifting to Missouri Valley's Michele Bader and Nicole Staznicky midway through the contest. Newly-crowned AMC/HAAC Player of the Year
Tamara Klimek and Raising Cane's Athlete of the Month
Krista Tyson caught their second wind at the right time recovering from a 5-4 deficit and winning four straight games to defeat the Vikings' No. 1 duo.
The No. 2 doubles slot was yet another match with multiple lead changes.
Dani Stevenson and
Emily Brown held a 6-5 advantage with the end in sight, but a late surge by Missouri Valley led to an 8-6 victory in favor of the Vikings.
Thais Castiglioni and
Rafaela Davide secured an 8-4 win at No. 3 doubles to help the Spartans carry a 2-1 lead heading into the singles competition.
Missouri Valley tied it at 2-all with a win at No. 6 singles, but the stalemate didn't last for long as Klimek ran away with the No. 1 singles match, 6-1, 6-2. The Vikings inched their way back into contention with a 6-4, 6-0 triumph at No. 4 singles. It was quite evident that both teams were putting it all on the line. With Nos. 2, 3 and 5 still in play, the intensity turned up and point after point a "let's go!" echoed throughout the Webster Groves Tennis Center.
Castiglioni, a senior from Madrid Spain, edged her opponent Nicole Staznicky, 7-5, in the first set and kept the momentum on her side with a 6-3 win to give the Spartans a 4-3 lead. On the next court over,
Krista Tyson outlasted MVC's Lauryn Daxon in an epic 7-6 (4) first set and then clinched the win for Missouri Baptist in a 6-2 rout.
(RV) Missouri Baptist University 5, St. Louis College of Pharmacy 0
In the quarterfinals match against No. 7-seed St. Louis College of Pharmacy, the Spartans jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after doubles. Klimek and Tyson were the only pair to rattle off an 8-0 win at No. 1 doubles, while the remaining doubles partners defeated STLCOP with similar 8-1 marks.
Needing just two more points to punch its ticket to the semifinals, MBU made quick work of the Eutectics at several singles positions. Castiglioni and Brown were among the first Spartans to finish. Castiglioni was dominant in a 6-0, 6-2 decision at No. 2 singles and Brown defeated Dominque Vu, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 5 singles.
