Blue Raiders swept against nationally-ranked Tigers

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Middle Tennessee women’s tennis forced three tiebreakers Saturday evening, two in singles and one in doubles, but were unable to mount any individual victories in dropping a 7-0 decision at No. 55 Memphis.

“We competed well and the score is not indicative of how we played,” head coach Shelley Godwin said. “We ran up against a tough opponent and a better team tonight. We’ll look to bounce back from this Sunday and have better results.”

The Blue Raiders forced a tiebreaker in the No. 1 doubles match against the Tigers’ No. 31 pairing nationally. The top Middle Tennessee (3-3) duo of senior Marietta Bigus and junior Lexi Brand fought hard to the end before dropping an 8-7 (4) contest to Alyssa Hibberd and Tiffany Welcher.

Memphis (6-1) also boasted three of the top 100 players in singles action and lined the trio up in at the No. 1, 2 and 4 slots.

Brand was able to go the distance with No. 73-ranked Courtney Collins at the No. 2 position before eventually falling 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7) in the super tiebreaker third set.

Junior Yuiri Nomoto and freshman Nayara Moraes were the other two Blue Raiders to square off against nationally-ranked foes.

Senior Taylor Coffey also played a super tiebreaker third set in her No. 6 contest with Kelly Gray. Coffey won the first set before Gray recovered to post the 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (4) triumph.

Middle Tennessee will remain in Memphis for its neutral-site match at 12:45 p.m. Sunday when it battles UT-Martin to close a season-opening seven-match road swing.

#55 Memphis 7, Middle Tennessee 0

Singles
No. 1 #98 Mariya Slupska (MEM) def. Yuiri Nomoto (MT) 6-0, 6-2
No. 2 #73 Courtney Collins (MEM) def. Lexi Brand (MT) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (7)
No. 3 Tiffany Welcher (MEM) def. Flavia Nagayama (MT) 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 #67 Stefanie Welcher (MEM) def. Nayara Moraes (MT) 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Alyssa Hibberd (MEM) def. Marietta Bigus (MT) 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 Kelly Gray (MEM) def. Taylor Coffey (MT) 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (4)

Doubles
No. 1 #31 Hibberd/Welcher (MEM) def. Bigus/Brand (MT) 8-7 (4)
No. 2 Mikesz/Slupska (MEM) def. Moraes/Nomoto (MT) 8-4
No. 3 Collins/Gray (MEM) def. Coffey/Alex Dachos (MT) 8-2

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