March 28, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - The West Texas weather cleared up just in time for a good women's tennis match-up between Texas Tech and Missouri today at the McLeod Tennis Center. The Lady Raiders stole a 6-1 win over the Tigers, evening their conference record to 2-2 heading into Sunday's match against No. 67 Colorado.

Tech's doubles started the match off right as the No. 1 duo of Janet Durham and Samantha van der Drift rolled passed Mizzou's Chrissy Sveltic and Mallory Weber, 8-2. The Lady Raiders dropped the next match at No. 3, tying up the score at one all. It was the veteran duo of Brenna Jackson and Kerryn Potgieter on the No. 2 court who put Tech on the scoreboard first, sinking in an 8-5 win over the Tigers' Sophia Ayala and Kaitlin Dunham.

The Lady Raiders moved right into singles action as van der Drift and Kelsy Garland took back-to-back 6-1, 6-1 wins at No. 1 and 2, respectively. Despite having her first serve broke, Tech senior Durham flexed her experience as she battled back and took the straight set win over freshman Maureen Modesto, securing the victory for her team.

In the second half of singles play freshman Simone Templeton breezed through her first set, but found the second not as easy. Despite being on serve for most of the match, Templeton broke Mizzou's Sveltic and managed to push herself through for the 7-5 win. The Lady Raiders only loss came in the No. 6 position as Maria Jose Andres couldn't quite find a break against the Tiger's Katelyn Ritchie, falling 7-6, 6-2. The final match ended on court five as Potgieter recovered from a 7-5 loss in the first set by dominating 6-1in the second, and then polished off the day with a 10-6 tiebreaker win in the third over Mizzou's Dunham.

"Missouri is a very good team, but I thought we really came out strong and ready to play," said Head Coach Cari Groce. "I feel really confident about this squad. We played solid, the team executed the game plan to our expectations, and the result was a well deserved win. Now we just have to stay mentally tough and get ready for a very good Colorado team."

Sunday's match against the Buffaloes is scheduled for noon, with free pizza, t-shirts, water bottles and numerous chances at great prizes.

Texas Tech - 6
Missouri - 1
March 28, 2008
McLeod Tennis Center

Doubles: 1, 3, 2*
1. Durham/van der Drift (TTU) def. Sveltic/Weber (UM); 8-2
2. Jackson/Potgieter (TTU) def. Ayala/Dunham (UM); 8-5
3. Giuggioli/Ritchie (UM) def. Garland/Templeton (TTU); 8-6

Singles: 1, 2, 4*, 3, 6, 5
1. Samantha van der Drift (TTU) def. Jessica Giuggioli (UM); 6-1, 6-1
2. Kelsy Garland (TTU) def. Mallory Weber (UM); 6-1, 6-1
3. Simone Templeton (TTU) def. Chrissy Sveltic (UM); 6-2, 7-5
4. Janet Durham (TTU) def. Maureen Modesto (UM); 6-4, 6-2
5. Kerryn Potgieter (TTU) def. Kaitlin Dunham (UM); 5-7, 6-1, 10-6
6. Katelyn Ritchie (UM) def. Maria Jose Andres (TTU); 7-6(3), 6-2