Bulldogs shake off rust to win Saturday doubleheader

Photo: Connor McCourtney

The Drake women’s tennis team added two more victories this past Saturday, taking out Chicago State 5-2 in the morning and defeating the University of Missouri–Kansas City 6-1 in the afternoon. The Bulldogs are now on a four-game winning streak, moving them up to a 4-3 record overall.

The Bulldogs started off at an advantage against Chicago State, as the Cougars only fielded four out of the six players necessary for competition.Therefore, Chicago State only had two doubles teams competing, forfeiting the third doubles match to sophomore Ali Patterson and junior Earlynn Lauer. Unfortunately, the players that made up the remaining two teams were particularly adept at doubles.

The Bulldogs switched up their duo at the first doubles slot, this time putting freshman Klavdija Rebol with junior Gabby Demos. The Drake pairing couldn’t overcome the Chicago State team, as they dropped the set 8-3.

Junior Amanda Aragon and senior Jessica Labarte formed the second doubles team, but they too struggled to find the answer to the Cougars’ doubles play en route to an 8-4 upset. The Bulldogs immediately erased the one-point deficit though, as Chicago State was forced to default the fifth and sixth singles matches, giving Lauer and Aragon two wins for Drake and giving them a 2-1 advantage.

Despite playing shorthanded, the Cougars were determined against the Bulldogs, as sophomore Manca Krizman could not find the answer against Dian Mayasari of Chicago State in her 2-6, 1-6 loss in No. 1 singles. With the score tied at two matches apiece, the Bulldogs took complete control of the match.

Junior Jessica Aguilera demolished her opponent with a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Rebol then clinched the match for the Bulldogs with a 6-2, 6-4 win. Demos made a valiant comeback after dropping the first set in her match, as she posted a 5-7, 6-0, 6-3 win to move Drake’s decision to a 5-2 victory.

Just a few hours later the Bulldogs took the court against the Kangaroos of UMKC. Unlike the Cougars, the Kangaroos fielded an entire team, but the whole Drake squad was on fire throughout the match starting with the doubles point.

The afternoon match was a complete role reversal, as the Bulldogs swept all three doubles matches. Demos and Rebol started the trend for Drake with an 8-5 win at the second doubles position. The doubles point was claimed for the Bulldogs off the strength of an 8-4 win by Aragon and Lebarte. Aguilera and Krizman made it a clean sweep with an 8-1 victory.

The Bulldogs wasted no time in clinching the match, as Aguilera, Rebol and Demos won the next three matches in dominating fashion to put the Bulldogs up 4-0. Aguilera was the first to finish her match with another 6-1, 6-0 victory. Rebol posted a 6-1, 6-2 match to set up Demos’ clinching 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Drake’s only loss of the dual match came at the sixth singles position where Lauer kept the match close throughout but eventually lost 3-6, 4-6.Krizman posted a 6-4, 6-2 win at the top spot while Aragon won 5-7, 7-5, 10-3 at fifth singles.

The Times-Delphic will have the results of the Bulldogs’ match against North Dakota yesterday in Thursday’s issue.