STORY BY EMILY LAMBIE
The Women’s Tennis team dominated this weekend as they took down Creighton, the University of North Dakota and Gustavus Adolphus.
The Bulldogs faced off with Creighton on Saturday, taking all seven points.
Senior Nell Boyd and junior Mariel Ante won 6-1 in doubles, followed by junior Maddie Johnson and freshman Summer Brills, winning 6-2. Junior Jordan Eggleston and freshman Adrienne Jensen battled through their match and won 7-5.
“I think we came out pretty strong,” Eggleston said. “We had a bit of a slow start, but we came back and we really grinded throughout the match and we really played our doubles, which is attacking from the net and I think it went well. We just need to work on some things to get ready for next weekend.”
“I was a little nervous at the beginning, but I fought through those nerves and just played my game,” Jensen said.
Head coach Sadhaf Pervez wasn’t as pleased with the duo.
“They came a little slow. They came off a little tentative. I think they could have done their job a little bit better,” Pervez said.
During the singles matches all six Bulldogs won in straight sets.
Boyd won 6-1, 6-1 in the fourth spot, followed by Brills on court two, 6-3, 6-0. Ante contributed a 6-3, 6-1 straight set win.
“I was really looking forward to playing (Jennie) Hartjes. I’ve watched her play against our number one last year, Claudia, and … for me to go out there and just beat her in two sets, and not even let her in the match. I felt so happy that just looking back, and just seeing how you match up to her. I just felt great,” Ante said.
Pervez was pleased with how Ante had played as well.
“I liked how Mariel has come a long way from playing number seven her freshman year and her junior year now she is playing number one. This was a big win for her,” Pervez said. “This kid from Creighton is good. She is a senior and she took our number one last year who is a senior into three sets and I’m really happy how Mariel is competing.”
On Sunday morning Drake faced off against University of North Dakota, registering straight set wins in every match.
The momentum from the doubles point helped carry the Bulldogs throughout the singles matches.
Jensen took down her opponent easily, not losing a single game.
Freshman Tess Herder picked up a comeback win against North Dakota. She fell behind early, but picked it back up and won her first set in a tiebreaker. Her determination pushed her on to win in straight sets, a final score of 7-6, 6-2.
The Bulldogs only dropped one game in the doubles matches on Sunday afternoon against Gustavus Adolphus, and those victories pushed them towards six straight set victories in singles.
Herder and Lea Kozulic both won their matches 6-0, 6-0. Nell Boyd almost completed a shutout as well, winning 6-1, 6-0.
Ante and Jensen each also had a shutout set, while Brills won her match 6-4, 6-4.
The Bulldogs next competitions will take place in Minneapolis, facing off with the University of Minnesota Twin Cities on Friday and then Dartmouth the following day.
