On April 1, the Drake Women’s Tennis team faced off against the Missouri State Bears in the Knapp Center.
The team, entering the matchup with a 2-1 conference record following a 5-2 win over the Bradley Braves, got off to a hot start against the Bears. They swept the Bears in doubles, securing the first point of the day with ease and taking an early 1-0 lead. In the sweep, all three doubles matchups resulted in dominating 6-1 wins for Drake.
“Doubles went well – Becca and I got off to a good start in the match and then continued with that game plan for the rest of the match,” Elizabete Klavinska said following her doubles three win with Rebecca Ehn. “I think getting the lead early on in the match helped us put some pressure on our opponents.”
At singles one, Ines Stephani secured a 6-2, 6-3 win to kick things off. At singles two, Mille Haagensen swept her opponent by a 6-0, 6-0 score. At singles three, Klavinska won her match, 7-5, 6-4. Darinka Stepan won her singles four match 6-4, 6-1. Oriana Parkins-Godwin won her match 6-1, 6-1, and Jyun-Yi Lee won her match 1-6, 6-4, 10-5.
By the time the singles matches had wrapped up, Drake had quickly built up a 7-0 sweep over the Bears.
On the following day, April 2, Drake faced off against Valparaiso. In a similar fashion to their matchup against the Bears, Drake got off to a quick start by once again securing the doubles point.
Drake once again dominated singles as well, opening singles one with Stephani securing a 7-6, 6-2 win. At singles two, Haagensen got a 6-4, 6-0 win. At singles three, Klavinska managed a comeback win in a 4-6, 6-0, 6-0 win.
The remaining three singles matches also fell in Drake’s favor, resulting in a second consecutive 7-0 sweep by the team.
“I think the team competed well this past weekend,” Parkins-Godwin said following the second win. “I’m glad that we were able to get two more conference wins.”
Drake also secured a win the following weekend on April 8 against the Belmont Bruins, extending their win streak to four.
Their next matchup will come against the University of Northern Illinois on April 15.
