Tennis Falls To No. 48 Arkansas In Sunday Showdown

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — University of Missouri tennis fell 4-0 to No. 48 University of Arkansas at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Sunday, March 17. The Tigers are still searching for their first in-conference win and move their record to 4-13 on the 2024 season. 

Mizzou opened the morning with doubles play and walked away with one winning match on court No. 2. Seniors Romary Cardenas Rifka and Gabriela Martinez battled and stole the match against the Razorbacks, 6-4. Still, the Tigers could not secure the doubles point.

Opening singles play down 1-0, Mizzou could not continue the momentum and fell on courts one, four and six. Sophomore Andrea Artimedi found herself in a close two-set match but was not able to jump in front of Arkansas for the win, 7-5, 6-4. Cardenas Rifka competed in a back-and-forth match in the No. 5 spot but went unfinished, 6-3, 2-6, 5-2. Martinez went unfinished as well on the No. 3 court and was leading 6-4, 5-3, along with Junior Inah Canete who went unfinished in the No. 2 spot up, 7-5, 4-4. 

HEAD COACH BIANCA TURATI

“I’m very proud with how the girls competed today. We are getting tougher mentally and we are playing more physical tennis, which is what we’ve been working on. I’m seeing so much progress. We decided to clinch the match, and yes, the scoreboard result was 4-0. However, Ro and Gabi were both one game away from winning their singles matches, and Inah was two games away from winning her singles match as well. Doubles were also super close. We were right there, and it was a battle. I’m very positive about how things are going. We just need to stay very consistent and keep up the hard work every day. If we are able to do that, results will follow.”

UP NEXT 

The Tigers return home to host No. 19 South Carolina on Friday, March 22, with first serve set for 2 p.m. CT. Mizzou will close the weekend against No. 16 Florida on Sunday, March 24, at 11 a.m. at the Country Club of Missouri or Green Tennis Center. 

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FULL RESULTS

Missouri 0, Arkansas 4

Doubles:

1. No. 49 Morgan Cross/Anet Koskel (UARK) def. No. 33 Inah Canete/Mae Canete (MIZ) 7-5

2. Roma Cardenas Rifka/Gabriela Martinez def. Lenka Stara/Grace O’Donnell (UARK) 6-4

3. Kelly Keller/Carolina Gomez (UARK) def. Andrea Artimedi/Emelie Schwarte 6-3

Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1

Singles:

1. No. 48 Carolina Gomez (UARK) def. Mae Canete (MIZ) 6-4, 6-1

2. Inah Canete (MIZ) vs. Kelly Keller (UARK) 7-5, 4-4 uf

3. Gabriela Martinez (MIZ) vs. Morgan Cross (UARK) 6-4, 5-3, uf

4. Indianna Spink (UARK) def. Emelie Schwarte (MIZ) 6-3, 6-1

5. Roma Cardenas Rifka (MIZ) def. Lenka Stara (UARK) 6-3, 2-6, 5-2 uf

6. Anet Koskel (UARK) def. Andrea Artimedi (MIZ) 7-5, 6-4

Order of Finish: 4, 1, 6