Photo: Taylor Soule
The Drake women’s tennis team concluded its participation in the Drake Fall Invitational by capturing four singles titles this past Sunday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs also captured three doubles titles on day one and a singles title on day two of the invitational, making that eight titles for the Bulldogs this weekend.
“This weekend was a good start for a very young team, but it is just a start,” said head coach Paul Thomson in a Drake athletics press release. “We have a great idea now of what we have to work with, but also what (we) need to work on. I saw some improvements day-to-day and hopefully, we can build on this next weekend at Illinois State.”
Sophomore Nell Boyd captured her second title of the weekend by defeating Montse Fernandez from Wichita State 6-2, 6-4, in the ‘B’ singles draw.
“Obviously, it was a big match because it was Wichita State,” Boyd said. “I beat her at her own game. She’s a very consistent player; she makes every ball. I tried to keep the ball crosscourt and deep. I was just making balls and she would end up going for more.”
Freshmen Maddie Johnson and Jordan Eggleston also registered their second title of the weekend. Johnson defeated senior teammate Ali Patterson 6-2, 6-1 in the ‘E’ flight. Eggleston outlasted Creighton’s Amanda Noonan in the ‘F’ singles draw 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-1.
Freshman Mariel Ante captured her first Drake Fall Invitational championship in the ‘C’ singles draw after defeating Mary Walkin of Northern Illinois, 6-0, 6-0.
Boyd commented on the team’s performance in its first tournament of the year.
“I think our team did awesome. Everyone stepped up and did an awesome job,” Boyd said. “I was really happy for all the freshmen, and I was really happy for how everyone played.”
The Bulldogs will resume their fall campaign this weekend when they travel to Normal, Ill., for the Redbird Classic this weekend.
Boyd is looking forward to playing against stiffer competition this weekend. Not every team brought their “full” squad to the Drake Fall Invitational.
“There might be a bit more competition. That will be exciting to see our competition and see where we are,” Boyd said. “(We need to) just go out there and just play and try to stay calm and comfortable.”
