MARYVILLE, Mo. — Facing their toughest test yet, No. 32-ranked Griffon Tennis took No. 10 Northwest Missouri State to its limit, just falling 4-3 on Wednesday at Frank Grube Courts.
DOUBLES
The Griffons caught a bad break in doubles action, losing all three matches. In No. 1 doubles,
Isabella MacGibbon/
Peralta Criado, Anais lost to Carolina Caetano Reis/Sofia Pignataro 6-1. Continuing into No. 2 doubles,
Anya Chavez/
Nicole Donnelly lost to Vera Alenicheva/Tessa Kwakernaak 6-2. Finishing out with No. 3 doubles,
Lucia Casas Blas/AriellaCurci fell to Tyffaine Pais/Angela Per Moreno 6-3.
SINGLES
With Northwest up 1-0 after winning the doubles point, Missouri Western reignited the rivalries' flame with some stellar singles matches. Two Division II heavyweights battled it out in No. 1 singles action, as No. 29 MacGibbon took No. 18 Alenicheva to the brink in three sets, with the Bearcat leader won 1-6, 6-2, 6-2. Fresh off her return to the national leaderboards, No. 66 Chavez beat No. 32 Pais in dominant fashion, winning 7-5 (7-4), 6-4 in No. 2 singles. Northwest took the momentum back with a win in No. 3 singles, as Kwakernaak beat
Cristina Granero Boj 6-2, 6-3, taking a 3-1 lead in favor of Northwest.
Jumping over to No. 5 singles, Peralta Criado kept the Griffs in it with a three-set win over Per Moreno, winning 6-7, 6-1, 6-1. With the Griffons needing a victory, it came down to another three-set showdown, this time in No. 6 singles actioon between Donnelly and Carolina DeOliveira. Ultimately, DeOliveria won the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, giving Northwest (17-3, 8-0 MIAA) its fourth and final point to clinch the win. Casas Blas took home a big win in No. 4 singles, defeating Caetano Reis 6-7, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) to close out the day.
NOTABLES
- Chavez is now 3-3 vs. nationally-ranked opponents this year.
- On top of that, Chavez is 9-1 when playing No. 2 singles.
- Missouri Western is 5-3 vs. ranked teams this season.
UP NEXT
Missouri Western (12-5, 5-3 MIAA) waits to find out who its opponent will be at the MIAA Championships, which begin on April 21 iin Edmond, Oklahoma.
