No. 22 Midwestern State vs Ouachita Baptist

Friday, March 11 – 2 p.m.
Live Oak Tennis Courts (Magnolia, Ark.)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 5-2

No. 22 Midwestern State vs Montevallo

Saturday, March 12 – 9 a.m.
Live Oak Tennis Courts (Magnolia, Ark.)

No. 22 Midwestern State at Southern Arkansas

Saturday, March 12 – 2 p.m.
Live Oak Tennis Courts (Magnolia, Ark.)
All-Time Series: MSU leads 1-0

WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Midwestern State looks to extend their four match win streak this week with three upcoming battles. The Mustangs travel to Magnolia, Ark., to face Ouachita Baptist, Montevallo and Southern Arkansas at Live Oak Tennis Courts.

The Mustangs kick-off play against the Tigers on Friday, March 11 at 2 p.m. MSU will face the Falcons and the Muleriders at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 12 to finish off the trip.

ABOUT THE MUSTANGS

Midwestern State had two big wins last week as they took down No. 21 ranked Southwest Baptist and No. 17 ranked Washburn. The Mustangs are 2-1 versus nationally ranked Division II teams this season. The team retained their 22nd ranking in the ITA's Jan. 20 and Feb. 17 releases.

Sophomore Skylar Minns leads MSU with a 7-3 singles record from the fifth and sixth spots. She went 3-1 during the Mustangs' run last week. Minns collected her first No. 5 win against Northeastern State on March 5. She and Sydney Williams went 2-2 last week from the third doubles line. They are 4-4 on the season.

Williams is 3-3 from No. 5 singles, posting a 6-2 win against Cowley County and 6-1 victory over Southwest Baptist.

Anda Ghinga, last week's Lone Star Conference Player of the Week, posted four singles and doubles victories for the Mustangs. The South Central Region ninth ranked singles player won big against No. 17 Diana Cabrera of No. 21 SBU and No. 48 Marta Torres of No. 21 Washburn. Ghinga is 6-3 on the year from the top spot in singles and doubles play. She is 4-0 with Hannah Yip.

Yip is 4-5 on the season from the second singles line. The freshman collected wins against No. 21 Southwest Baptist and Northeastern State to help MSU to the victories. She ranks seven in the region for singles. Yip currently rides a five-match win streak in doubles play.

Casie Curry is 3-3 in singles play for 2022. The junior posted a win in the match against No. 21 Washburn. Curry is 3-1 with Emilija Visic from the second doubles line. Their only drop came against WU. Visic is undefeated for the season from three different singles spots. The sophomore is 5-0 in singles and 5-4 in doubles.

AT THE HELM

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 190-84 (.693) in his 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.

SCOUTING THE TIGERS

Ouachita Baptist is 2-11 on the 2022 season, currently riding a ten-match losing streak. Their only wins were on the road and the Tigers are 0-1 in neutral matches. OBU registered a 7-0 sweep of NAIA side, John Brown, on Oct. 29. The team also clinched an 8-1 victory on Feb. 5 against Hendrix. Ouachita Baptist is 0-1 in GAC play with a 0-7 drop to Harding.

SCOUTING THE FALCONS

Montevallo is 2-2 on the season with back-to-back 7-0 wins against West Georgia and Georgia Southwestern State on Feb. 18 and 19. The Falcons then fell to Christian Brothers and No. 12 West Florida on Feb. 26 and March 5. MU is 1-0 in neutral venue matches.

Mireia Turro is 17thh in the South Region singles rankings for Montevallo. The freshman is 2-2 from the top singles spot for the Falcons. She is 3-1 at No. 1 doubles, playing with Emily Hafner and Eva Dirr.

Hafner is also 2-2 from the No. 2 spot with wins against Georgia Southwestern State and West Georgia. Dirr is 2-1 playing from the third and fourth spots.

Isabelle Barfoot is 3-0 in singles play. The sophomore is 2-2 with Lieselott Hartlohner and Cyba Ozzor.

SCOUTING THE MULERIDERS

Southern Arkansas is 0-4, falling to two Division II opponents and two NJCAA sides. SAU dropped to Cameron on Feb. 12 and to Northwest Missouri State on March 7. The Muleriders were overtaken by No. 1 junior college Tyler JC on Feb. 25 and No. 5 Seward County CC.

ABOUT THE SERIES

Midwestern State is 5-2 in the series against Ouachita Baptist and has a three-match win streak since 2005. The last meeting between the two teams was in 2007 in Arkadelphia, Ark. MSU took both neutral venue matches in 1997 and 2000. The Tigers found back-to-back wins in 2003 and 2004 in Arkadelphia, Ark.

This is the first match between MSU and Montevallo.

The Mustangs and the Muleriders have met just once before Saturday's match. Midwestern State took the 2021 battle 4-3 in Wichita Falls, Texas, over Southern Arkansas.

UP NEXT

Midwestern State is ready for a full week of tennis during Spring Break. The Mustangs face Emporia State on Monday, March 14, at 11 a.m. They follow up with a double header against Nebraska-Kearney and Hastings on Tuesday, March 15, at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.