WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- Midwestern State improved to 7-0 in the Lone Star Conference, and remained undefeated in eight dual matches at MSU Tennis Center, with a 5-2 victory over Dallas Baptist on Friday afternoon.
Micaela McSpadden won her second consecutive match in straight sets at No. 6 singles and clinched the victory for the Mustangs with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Emily Buchanan. The junior from Oologah, Oklahoma, improved to 5-4 for the season, and she is 3-3 in the No. 6 position.
"Micaela did a great job. We played without our normal starting lineup today, so we had to move people up to four, five and six, and Micaela clinched the match at six, which was awesome," head coach
Scott Linn said.
Sydney Williams extended her winning streak to nine matches, and claimed the point at No. 5 singles for the second time in three duals. Williams gutted out a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Sofia Teran as she fought through cramps at the end of the match.
Skylar Minns, who is 8-4 at No. 5 singles, saw a six-match winning streak end as she fell to Isabella Rios at No. 4 singles, 7-5, 2-6, 4-10. Minns is 2-2 in the No. 4 slot this season and dropped a match at home for the first time since a loss to 73rd-ranked Peyton Koper of Washburn on March 9.
Jessica Binzari and
Anda Ghinga both rebounded from a narrow defeat at No. 1 doubles to win their matches in singles.
Binzari, ranked No. 32 in the nation, defeated Caroline Hudson at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 6-2, and 30th-ranked
Anda Ghinga also posted a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Leonie Schondelmaier at No. 2 singles.
"I like the fact that Jessica and Anda were able to win their first sets after a tough loss in doubles," Linn said.
Dallas Baptist secured the first point of the day as the No. 21-ranked duo of Rios and Teran won a 7-5 tiebreak over No. 27-ranked Binzari and Ghinga at No. 1 doubles.
Williams won her fifth doubles match in her last six outings at the No. 3 spot. Williams teamed with
Sarah Mazaraki for the second time in as many duals to give MSU a 6-2 victory over Sarah Castleberry and Jenna Payne.
Caroline Hudson and Madalyn Smelley made sure the doubles point would be decided in the marquee matchup at No. 1 doubles. Hudson and Smelley earned a 6-2 win over the tandem of
Hannah Yip and Shreya Chakraoboty, which entered the dual with a 5-1 record at No. 2 doubles.
Dallas Baptist has now won the doubles point in 16 consecutive dual matches and has only dropped six doubles matches in that span. DBU is 17-4 with a 4-2 conference record, and the Patriots are now 10-1 in road duals.
"They've played good doubles this year." Linn said. "We had a chance to win that match for sure at No. 1 doubles. We didn't play our best at two, but three finished strong."
Yip stepped up in singles with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Smelley. The junior from Malaysia has now won seven consecutive matches, including the last six in straight sets.
"Hannah played excellent today. Hannah was really good," Linn said. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's almost worked a little bit to our favor that we don't always win the doubles point. We've lost a few doubles points — more than a few. Because the ladies are used to it, they understand that it's just one point. They understand that they have a responsibility on the court."
Midwestern State, which improved to 15-3 overall and 7-0 in the LSC, has won the doubles point in eight dual matches this season.
The Mustangs return to the MSU Tennis Center on Saturday for a 10 a.m. dual with UT Tyler.
Â
-- MSUMustangs.com --
