Midwestern State vs Weatherford College

Tuesday, Feb. 8 – 2 p.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 8-3

Midwestern State vs Seward County CC

Thursday, Feb. 10 – 2 p.m.
MSU Tennis Center (Wichita Falls, Texas)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 4-0

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Originally scheduled for Feb. 3-4 and then canceled due to winter weather, Midwestern State reschedules the matches against Weatherford College and Seward County Community College to this week. The Mustangs face the Coyotes on Tuesday, Feb. 8 and take on the Saints on Thursday, Feb. 10. MSU Tennis Center hosts both matches with the first serve set for 2 p.m.

SCOUTING THE COYOTES

The junior college brought back the women's tennis program in 2021 after a hiatus from the school. Since the start of 2022, Weatherford College dropped two matches in January. The Coyotes fell 0-7 to Angelo State on Jan. 22 and 0-7 to UT Arlington on Jan. 30. On Feb. 3, Weatherford College posted a seventh rank in the ITA Top 25 rankings. The team is second in the Region II list.
 
Weatherford College has seven players ranked in the Dec. 2 national singles and doubles ranks. Michelle Markovic leads at No. 9 singles. She won three straight matches at the ITA Small College Regionals in the fall. The sophomore eventually lost in the semifinals.
 
Anastasiia Khurstaleva ranks at the 27th spot. The Troy University (Ala.) transfer is WC's No. 1 singles player and advanced to the finals of her flight in the Collin College Open in Oct. The junior advanced to the quarterfinals of the ITA Small College Regionals.
 
Markovic and Khurstaleva rank at 11th in doubles. The duo made it to the quarterfinals in the ITA Regionals after defeating opponents from Tyler Junior college and Collin College.
 
Agathe Vaillant finished at No. 36 in the rankings. The sophomore beat two Tarleton players at the Texan Invite on Oct. 26. She also won a first-round draw at the ITA tournament in Sept.
 
Elena Baughman-Saunders finishes at No. 46 while Marija Ristanovic ranks 49th. Ristanovic and Linda Brandt rank 19th in the doubles list.

SCOUTING THE SAINTS

Seward County Community College kicks off their 2022 season at MSU on Thursday. In the Feb. 3 ITA National Rankings, SCCC finished at No. 5 for junior colleges. The team was second in the Region III list. As of Dec. 2, the Saints have seven player rankings in the ITA College Tennis Junior College Women's list.
 
Sophomore Justine Lepes ranks second in the nation, making history as the highest-ranking singles player for the program. The La Teste-De-Buch, France, native went to the national tournament in the fall after defeating Cowley in the Regional Championship. At Nationals, she upset Tyler Junior College's Destinee Martins, but fell in three sets in the championship match.
 
Freshman Carol Mora also has a top 20 singles rank. The Colombian ranks 18th after making the quarterfinals in the regional tournament. She and Lespes rank seventh in doubles. The duo fell in the semifinals of the fall regional tournament.
 
Freshman Camille Belberka ranks 32rd on the singles side while freshman Jimena Llorens follows at No. 35. The Frenchwoman and the Spaniard received a twelfth rank on the doubles side. The two made a considerable run in the consolation bracket for the regional tournament.
 
Sophomore Lucia Popluharova rounds at the rankings for the Saints. The Slovakian sits at No. 39 singles. 

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

No. 22 Midwestern State made a clean sweep of McMurry in their first match of the spring season. The team took all seven points in the Jan. 28 match.
 
Sophomore Anda Ghinga and sophomore Emilija Visic teamed up at No. 1 doubles while junior Casie Curry and freshman Sydney Williams sat in the second spot. Freshman Hannah Yip and sophomore Skylar Minns posted a 6-0 victory at the third line.
 
Ghinga and Yip clinched wins at the top two singles spots while Visic made work at No. 3 singles. Curry cleaned up at the forth line and Williams made her collegiate debut at the fifth singles spot. Minns swept 6-0, 6-0 at No. 6 singles.

MSU placed four in the ITA Division II South Central Region singles rankings while one pair found their way in the doubles list. Yip led the way at No. 7 followed by Ghinga at No. 9. Sophomore Kyndall Quiroz came in at No. 19 and Visic was at No. 20. Ghinga and Quiroz combined for a No. 9 regional doubles' ranking

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 185-81 (.695) 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 1981, Midwestern State has an 8-3 record against Weatherford College. The two teams last met in 1996 in Wichita Falls, Texas. MSU took home a 7-0 win over WC. When playing at MSU Tennis Center, the Mustangs are 4-2 over the Coyotes. Weatherford College last won on the road in 1995. They won 7-2.
 
Midwestern State is undefeated against Seward County Community College. In all four meetings at MSU Tennis Center, the Mustangs beat the Saints. The first meeting in 1991 saw a 6-0 score while the following three matches ended in an 8-1 score for MSU.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State will stay in Wichita Falls, Texas, through mid-February with a full slate of matches against community colleges and junior colleges. First up is Seward County Community College on Feb. 3. The Mustangs host the Lady Saints at MSU Tennis Center at 1 p.m.