MU tennis team excels through busy schedule

COLUMBIA — The feeling in the Green Tennis Center on Saturday night was one of exhaustion.

The night before, the MU tennis team was there taking care of children for the center’s members as a fundraiser. The next day the Tigers came right back in at 9 a.m. and took care of both the Xavier Musketeers and the Chicago State Cougars in four hours apiece .

When reflecting on it all, freshman Kaitlin Ritchie cracked a tired smile.

“We’ve definitely just been in this building a long time,” Ritchie said.

It was a long but positive 24 hours for the Tigers, who improved to 5-1 with the pair of 6-1 victories. On top of that, the team also enjoyed playing less-competitive tennis with the children the night before during its annual “Date Night,” an opportunity for center members and to drop their kids off so that both children and parents could enjoy themselves separately for an evening.

Missouri coach Blake Starkey said the weekend was demanding, but considering the final results, it was a good one.

“Any day you collect your ‘W’ is a good, solid day,” Starkey said.

Senior Chrissy Svetlic described the matches as physically tough, but she said she didn’t expect anything to be easy.

“We came out here and did what we knew we could do, what we should have done,” she said.

Starkey and his players said that, even on little rest, there was no reason for them not to play their hardest and win both matches given their talent level as compared to the other teams.

“You’re a (Division I) player, you’re supposed to be able to handle physical challenges,” Starkey said. “We don’t have excuse-makers. We just don’t.”

Despite the hard-earned accomplishments, the weekend is not over for the Tigers. This afternoon they host their annual Tiger Pro Am, another fundraiser that involves players teaming up with women in Columbia for an afternoon of doubles matches.