No. 22 Midwestern State vs Tyler Junior College

Friday, Feb. 18 – 10 a.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
All-Time Series: TJC leads 6-2

No. 22 Midwestern State at No. 3 Central Oklahoma

Saturday, Feb. 19 – 5 p.m.
Oak Tree Country Club (Edmond, Okla.)
All-Time Series:  MSU leads 17-15-2

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State hosts top-ranked Tyler Junior College at MSU Tennis Center before heading to Edmond, Okla. to face No. 3 University of Central Oklahoma. The Mustangs and the Apache face-off on Friday, Feb. 18 at 10 a.m. MSU takes on UCO on Saturday, Feb. 19 at the Oak Tree Country Club. First serve is set for 5 p.m.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

No. 22 Midwestern State is currently 2-1 in the 2022 season, winning their first two matches against McMurry and Weatherford College. The team's first disappointment came in the 3-4 loss to Seward County Community College on Feb. 10.
 
Two players remain undefeated for the Mustangs. Freshman Sydney Williams and sophomore Skylar Minns are both 3-0 in singles and doubles play for the year. Williams won all three singles matches from the five spot while Minns won out at No. 6.
 
The pair competed at the third doubles line against Weatherford and Seward County to post a two match win streak. Williams partnered with Casie Curry for the first victory against McMurry while Minns found her win with Hannah Yip.
 
Yip and Anda Ghina are 2-1 in singles and doubles. Ghinga took home back-to-back wins at the top singles spot against McMurry and Weatherford, but fell to Justine Lespes by 6-7, 4-6. Yip also started the season strong with two victories at the No. 2 line, but took a hit after a close three-set battle with Carol Mora of Seward County. The freshman ranks seventh in the ITA South Central Region Singles Rankings while Ghinga comes in at No. 9.
 
Ghinga and Emilija Visic are 2-1 from the No. 1 doubles line. The duo linched 6-1 and 6-2 wins in the first two matches and fell 3-6 to SCCC's Lespes and Camille Belberka. Yipp tallied victories with Minns and Ethne Dowling, but dropped with Dowling to the Polluharova/Mora team of Seward County.
 
Visic and Curry are both 1-0 in singles play while Dowling and Kyndall Quiroz are 1-1. Quiroz ranks at No. 19 in the region and Visic finishes the singles list in the 20th spot.

THE MAN IN CHARGE

Scott Linn enters his 12th season at the helm of the Midwestern State men's and women's tennis programs in 2021-22 after guiding the Mustangs to 17 NCAA Tournament appearances since arriving in Wichita Falls in the fall of 2010. The Mustangs have thrived under Linn's leadership as he revived the program to the highest level. Linn has directed the women's program to a 186-82 (.694) in his first eleven seasons on campus with nine NCAA Division II postseason appearances, reaching the round of 16 in 2013, 2014, 2018 and 2019 while making trips to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2015 and 2017.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Since 2012, Tyler Junior College owns a 6-2 advantage over Midwestern State. The Mustangs collected a 6-3 win in 2014 and 4-3 victory in 2019. When playing at MSU Tennis Center, MSU is 1-4 with the only win coming in 2014. TJC took a 7-0 win over the Mustangs in 2012 in Tyler, Texas. The Apache are on a two-match win streak.
 
The series between Midwestern State and University of Central Oklahoma is much longer, spanning 41 years. MSU is 17-15 against UCO with two ties in 1984 and 1987. The Mustangs are 7-8 when playing on the road against the Bronchos. Central Oklahoma has been nationally ranked for the last five years, in which Midwestern State went 1-4. The team's last win against UCO was in 2019 with a 4-3 score at home. Since then, MSU has dropped three straight, including a 0-4 loss versus the No. 5 Bronchos in 2021.

SCOUTING THE APACHE

Tyler Junior College was ranked at No. 1 in the Feb. 3 ITA NJCAA National Team Rankings after winning the NJCAA National Championship in 2021. The team won three of the last four national championships and has 20 total in program history. In 2022, TJC is 3-3 with wins over Cameron, Eastern Arizona College and St. Petersburg College and losses against Angelo State, Abilene Christian and Baylor.
 
Sophomore Lauren Anzalotta took home the NJCAA Singles title at the ITA Cup in Oct. She claimed the crown on a 6-2, 6-3 win over Justine Lespes of Seward County CC. The San Juan, Puerto Rico, native paired with sophomore Destinee Martins to take home the doubles title at the ITA Cup as well.
 
As of Dec. 2, Anzalotta leads the nation in singles with Martins taking third place in the ITA ranks. Freshman Abigail Wild ranks seventh while freshman Yeva Kramarova placed 29th. Freshman Hrudaya Shah rounds out the list for the Apache at No. 48.
Anzalotta and Martins top the doubles rankings as well. Wild and freshman Patricia Apisah take the third spot as Shah and Kramarova sit at No. 13.

SCOUTING THE BRONCHOS

Central Oklahoma ranks third in the opening poll of the ITA Top 25 teams. The Bronchos lost to Barry University in the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championship semifinals. The team was also picked first in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll. UCO is 2-0 on the 2022 season with a 6-1 win over UT Tyler and a 7-0 sweep of Dallas Baptist.
 
Mae Canete ranks second in the nation for singles after posting her first collegiate loss in the 2021 ITA Cup national championship to Barry's Deniz Khazan. The Central Region No. 1 singles player took wins against UT Tyler and Dallas Baptist.
 
Mae plays with her sister, Christine Canete, on the doubles side and rank first in the nation. The duo placed first in the ITA Central Regional and the ITA Cup in the Fall. The two are 15-2 together after posting 6-1 victories against UTT and DBU.
 
Christine fell in the quarterfinals of the ITA Cup to the eventual national champion. The freshman ranks fourth in the nation behind her sister. She posted wins in the team's matches between both Patriot teams.
 
Adel Abidulina sits fourth in the ITA singles rankings for UCO. The two-time MIAA Player of the Year fell in the quarterfinals of the ITA Cup in October. The All-American went 13-4 in 2021 and is 2-0 in 2022. Abidulina and Nikki Boyar sit 21st in the nation for doubles.
 
Grace Chadick places 21st in the singles list of the ITA. The freshman reached the semifinals of the ITA Central Regionals hosted by the Bronchos in October. In the spring semester, Chadick lost to No. 4 Leony Deutschmann of UT Tyler. However, she and Boyar took a 7-5 win at the third doubles line.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State hosts Cowley County Community College in their first of three matches next week. The Mustangs and the Tigers face off on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at MSU Tennis Center. First serve is set for 1 p.m.