WHAT'S AHEAD: The Drake women's tennis team will open its fall campaign this weekend hosting the Drake Fall Invitational at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.  The seven-team event will include Creighton, Iowa State, Minnesota, Nebraska-Omaha, North Dakota and Northern Iowa.

Action gets underway on Friday  (Sept. 10) at 2:00 p.m. and will continue both Saturday (Sept. 11) and Sunday (Sept. 12) at 8:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., respectively.

LAST YEAR: Drake captured three titles at the 2009 Drake Fall Invitational, including a pair of doubles crowns.  Earlynn Lauer (Wichita, Kan.) secured the "C" flight singles crown beating Ellie Nixon of Iowa State, 6-1, 6-3.

Drake also won the "B" doubles draw title as the tandem of Ali Patterson (Overland Park, Kan.) and Amanda Aragon (Fort Collins, Colo.) registered an 8-5 triumph over the mixed-doubles pair of Lauer and Lauren Mastro of Creighton.

In the top doubles flight, Gabriela Demos (Chesterfield, Mo.) and Manca Krizman (Solkan, Slovenia) claimed the "A" flight doubles title besting Maria Fernanda Macedo and Jenna Langhorst of Iowa State, 8-6, to capture the top doubles draw.

It marked the second consecutive year in which Demos had won the "A" doubles title, after pairing with Aragon to earn the crown in 2008.

SIZING UP THE BULLDOGS: Drake returns all six starters from a year ago, led by Manca Krizman, who as a freshman, led the Bulldogs with a 29-27 combined singles/doubles ledger, including a team-best 16-13
singles mark.

Gabriela Demos also makes her return after equaling Krizman for the team lead in doubles victories with 13. Demos and Krizman posted a 10-9 doubles mark in the spring campaign.

The Bulldogs are also looking forward to a healthy return from Ali Patterson, who recorded 17 victories as a freshman last season. Rounding out the roster are senior Jessica Labarte (Barcelona, Venezuela), junior Jessica Aguilera (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and freshman Klavdija Rebol (Kranj, Slovenia).