Mizzou Tennis Takes Down No. 43 Kentucky, 4-3

LEXINGTON, KY – The University of Missouri (6-9, 1-1 SEC) fought from behind to take down No. 43 Kentucky (11-4, 0-3 SEC), 4-3, on Friday afternoon. The competition marks the Tigers’ first ranked SEC victory of the season.

After narrowly losing the doubles point, Mizzou gathered momentum for singles competition. Bronte Murgett finished first for the Tigers, defeating No. 108 Carlota Molina with ease, 6-3, 6-2. At this point, Mizzou was trailing Kentucky by a score of 1-2. Elys Ventura then locked in another point for the team after beating Fiona Arrese, 6-3, 6-4.

The score only remained 2-2 for a brief moment before the Wildcats found their third and final point. Ellie Wright closed her match against Carla Girbau soon after, 6-2, 7-5. The Tigers were officially tied at three apiece, leaving the match in the hands of Gabriela Martinez. Martinez kept calm under the pressure and clinched the match for Mizzou, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4. 

“Super proud of this team, they fought from beginning to end. Never had any doubts about it, even halfway through matches,” said Wright. “We lost a couple early on, but we had the fire and came out and played for our coach who couldn’t be here with us today; instead, we had our assistant Coach Kat, and we just played with heart today.”

The Tigers will take this momentum into their next match against No. 39 Vanderbilt on Sunday, March 13. Mizzou is slated to face Vanderbilt at 12:30 p.m. CST. 

Final Results 

Doubles

Arrese/Gonzalez (UK) def. Martinez/Wright (MU) – 6-3

Murgett/Schwarte (MU) vs. Girbau/Eades (UK) – 5-4

Molina/Urrutia (UK) def. Vazquez/Ventura (MU) – 6-2

Singles

Murgett (MU) def. No. 108 Molina (UK) – 6-3, 6-2

Wright (MU) def. Girbau (UK) – 6-2, 7-5

Ventura (MU) def. Arrese (UK) – 6-3, 6-4

Urrutia (UK) def. Schwarte (MU) – 6-2, 6-3

Gonzalez (UK) def. Vazquez (MU) – 6-3, 6-0

Martinez (MU) def. Eades (UK) – 1-6, 6-2, 6-4