The Bulldogs hit the road for the first time during their young campaign as Drake travels to Lincoln, Neb., to battle Nebraska and Air Force on Saturday (Feb. 13) and Sunday (Feb. 14), respectively. Match time against the Cornhuskers is slated for 3:00 p.m., while first serve versus the Falcons will commence at 10:00 a.m.
A LOOK BACK: The Bulldogs concluded their season-opening four-match homestand falling 6-1 to Iowa State last Friday (Feb. 5) and 4-3 to UIC on Sunday (Feb. 7).
The first victory of the campaign was within reach but Drake was unable to capitalize on opportunity as UIC escaped the Roger Knapp Tennis Center with a 4-3 win.
With the sides splitting the first two doubles tilts, the point came down to the No. 1 court where the Flames' duo of Mariya Kovaleva and Kristen McPhillips overcame a 7-5 deficit to upend the Bulldog tandem of sophomore Gabriela Demos (Chesterfield, Mo.) and freshman Manca Krizman (Solkan, Slovenia), 9-7.
The lead swelled to 3-1 for UIC before Drake squared the contest with triumphs from freshman Ali Patterson (Overland Park, Kan.) and Krizman.
Krizman bested Illinca Cristescu at No. 2, 7-5, 6-3, while Patterson bettered Zlatka Petrova at No. 3, 6-1, 6-4.
The deciding contest came down to the dual on the No. 4 court where McPhillips posted a 6-3, 6-3 decision against sophomore Jessica Aguilera (Santa Cruz, Bolivia).
Garnering her first victory of the dual season at No. 5 was junior Jessica Labarte (Barcelona, Venezuela), who netted a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Elena Antakova.
The inability of Drake to deliver on second set advantages that prevented the Bulldogs from pulling off the upset of Iowa State at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center as the Cyclones registered a 6-1 victory.
Iowa State assumed a 3-0 lead in the contest taking two of the three doubles contests before securing wins at the Nos. 3 and 5 singles positions.
After dropping the first set in the remaining four matches, the Bulldogs held late leads in each of the balance of tilts in the second sets. Drake though was unable to capitalize as Iowa State garnered wins on courts one, four and six.
Completing the comeback at the No. 2 slot to account for the Bulldogs' victory was Krizman, who erased a 6-5 second-set deficit versus Tessa Lang to post a 7-6 (6) decision before taking the third-set tiebreaker, 10-7.
Earning a victory at the No. 3 doubles position was the tandem of Aguilera and Patterson over Jasmine Lee and Maria-Christine Chartier, 8-7 (5).
LAST YEAR: Nebraska proved too much of an obstacle for Drake to overcome as the Huskers cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Bulldogs on Feb. 8, 2009 at the Nebraska Tennis Center.
Then senior Kari Sloboth capped a perfect weekend as she accounted for the Bulldogs' tally in the affair registering a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Stephanie Evans at the No. 4 singles position.
The Huskers cracked the scoring column first as Nebraska earned decisions in all three doubles contests to assume a 1-0 lead, one they didn't relinquish.
Amanda Aragon (Fort Collins, Colo.) nearly made it a pair of victories for the Bulldogs as she came up just shy in a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 9-11 setback to Abby Buxton at the No. 6 singles slot.
Drake last met Air Force in 2006 in Lincoln, Neb., and the Bulldogs came away with a 4-3 triumph.
