WICHITA, Kan. – The Wichita State women's tennis team dropped a 4-2 decision to Missouri, Wednesday at the Wichita Country Club.
 
After winning the doubles point, Mizzou rallied to take four of five singles matches to take the match.
 
From Head Coach Colin Foster
"It was a good college tennis match. We squeaked out a nail-biter at their place last year, so they were certainly in here looking for revenge. More importantly, they have a really quality team, and well-coached team up and down the lineup. We knew we had our work cut out for us today, and we continued to play a pretty good level in the doubles. Obviously, that doubles point is important. We just came up a little short on a couple courts in singles. I give credit to Missouri at those spots for just playing with a little bit more composure and willingness to take the risk in the big moment; and it paid off for them. They earned this win, we didn't give it to them by any means. It was a great experience for some of our less experienced players to go through this and the whole team will be stronger from it, and we are excited. We got two tough tests on the road this weekend, and we will be ready."
 
Doubles
Mizzou jumped out to an early lead in doubles, with a 6-2 win on court one. The Tiger duo of Mackenzy Middlebrooks and Ellie Wright raced out to a 3-0 lead and never looked back, taking down Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva and Esther Thebault. It was all WSU on court three, where newcomer LingWei Kong paired up with Ting-Ya Hsu to take down Viven Abraham and Marta Oliveira, 6-2.
 
The number two doubles match was a back-and-forth battle. Gabrielle Goldin and Serena Nash took an early 4-2 lead over Marta Bellucco and Sandra Honigova. Bellucco and Honigova won a pair of games to tie the match at four-all. After falling behind 5-4, Goldin and Nash rallied to win two games of their own, taking a 6-5 lead. The Shocker tandem showed great resiliency, forcing a tiebreaker and coming out with win, 7-6 (3).
 
Singles
Honigova took on Middlebrooks in the top flight for the Shockers. Honigova fell behind early, and Middlebrooks took the first set, 6-1. The Mizzou junior controlled the second set, (6-2) to tie the match at one.
 
Nash and Thebault took the court in the second flight, with Nash coming out on top in the first (6-1). Thebault battled to tie the match at three in the second, and took a 5-4 lead before falling (7-5), giving Mizzou the 2-1 lead.
 
In the third flight, Bellucco faced off against Lisa Kukutoku. The first set was tight until the end, before Bellucco pulled won a close one, 7-6(4) in a tiebreaker. Bellucco jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second set, and led 5-1 over Kukutoku. Kukutoku came back to win two games before Bellucco closed out the match, 6-3, to tie the match at two.
 
Kong, who competed in just her second collegiate match, took on Wright in the number four flight for WSU. Kong trailed early in the first set (2-1) before rallying to take a 3-2 lead. Wright answered, to go up 5-4 with the set on the line. Kong delivered, winning three straight games to take the set, 7-5. Wright came back to win the second set, 6-2. The third set was back-and-forth, with the two knotted up at five. After going to a tiebreaker, Wright rallied down 6-5 in the tiebreaker to take the match and put Mizzou up 3-2.
 
The Tigers clinched the match on court five, with Abraham defeating Alexandra Lazarova in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 to clinch the match over the Shockers, 4-2.
 
After dropping the first set (6-2), Hsu led Taylor Gruber 2-1 in the second set before the match was suspended.
 
UP NEXT: The Shockers hit the road for two matches in Texas, beginning Friday. WSU takes on Houston at 1 p.m. Friday, and travels to UT-Arlington for an 10 a.m. matchup in Arlington.
 

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Missouri 4, Wichita State 2
 
Doubles
1. Mackenzy Middlebrooks/Ellie Wright (MIZZ) def. Esther Thebault/Sarvinoz Saidhujaeva (WSU), 6-2
2. Sandra Honigova/Marta Bellucco (WSU) def. Gabrielle Goldin/Serena Nash (MIZZ), 7-6(3)
3. Ting-Ya Hsu/LingWei Kong (WSU) def. Vivien Abraham/Marta Oliveira (MIZZ), 6-2
 
Singles
1. Mackenzy Middlebroks (WSU) def. Sandra Honigova (WSU), 6-2, 6-2
2. Serena Nash (MIZZ) def. Esther Thebault (WSU), 6-1, 7-5
3. Marta Bellucco (WSU) def. Lisa Kukutoku (MIZZ), 7-6 (4), 6-3
4. Ellie Wright (MIZZ) def.  LingWei Kong (WSU), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6 (6)
5. Vivien Abraham (MIZZ) def. Alexandra Lazarova (WSU), 6-3, 6-3
6. Ting-Ya Hsu (WSU) vs. Taylor Gruber (MIZZ), 2-6, 2-1
 
Order of Finish: Doubles (1, 3, 2); Singles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)