On Feb. 25, the Drake men’s tennis team competed at home against the University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers.
To start the match, at doubles one, Matija Matic and Oliver Johansson won 6-4, putting Drake at an early advantage for the doubles point. At doubles two, Matt Clegg and Reid Jarvis fell by a score of 4-6. At doubles three, Evan Fragistas and Jeremy Schifirs also lost by a score of 4-6, resulting in an early 0-1 deficit for Drake on the day.
The team bounced back quickly though, as Matic pulled in his singles one point in a 7-6, 2-6, 6-2 set to tie the match up at 1-1. At single two, Fragistas fell in his first set but won the next two by scores of 6-3 and 6-4 to give Drake a 2-1 lead.
Johansson won his singles three matchup in similar fashion, falling 4-6 in his first set but winning the next two by a score of 6-3. At single four Olle Sonesson Lindholt also won, pulling in a fourth consecutive point for Drake.
With a 4-1 lead after singles four, Jarvis secured a singles five win in a 6-4, 6-3 matchup. Shortly thereafter, Markus Bolin at singles six secured another win, concluding the singles sweep for Drake and securing a 6-1 win over Wisconsin on the day.
Matic explained after the competition how meaningful it is to be able to secure the singles wins in which they started off with a loss in their first set.
“I think the team competed great today,” Matic said. “It was good to see everyone fight through their matches – even after losing a set, we were able to come back and win.”
Drake men’s tennis has now increased their overall record to 8-5 and their home record to 7-1. The team’s next matchup will come during a tournament taking place at Arizona State from March 10-12.
The Drake women’s tennis team competed twice this past weekend, falling to DePaul on March 3 and defeating Northern Illinois on March 4.
In their matchup against DePaul, Drake failed to challenge the 67th-ranked women’s team. DePaul quickly secured the doubles point and won four of the six singles matchups, resulting in a 2-5 Drake loss on the day.
The following day, Drake managed a win against Northern Illinois. Drake lost the doubles point but secured five of the six singles matchups, resulting in a 5-2 win overall for Drake.
Head coach Brianna Addison expressed joy following the win, explaining how important it was to secure a win following the tough loss to DePaul.
“I’m proud of the way we bounced back after a tough loss vs DePaul,” Addison said in a Drake Athletics news release after the win. “Despite losing the doubles point, we responded well in singles. Credit to Ines Stephani for staying tough and finding a way to battle back in her match. Things were looking a little dicey midway through the singles play, but her ability to even the match at one set all elevated the team and really made the difference for us today.”
The Drake women’s tennis team’s next matchup will come on March 10 against the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks at home.
