JANUARY 25, 2012
WHAT'S AHEAD: The Drake
women's tennis team will open the home portion of its schedule this weekend as
the Bulldogs host the Mid-America Jamboree Team Dual at the Roger Knapp Tennis
Center. The two-day, four-team
event will begin on Saturday (Jan. 28) with Drake entertaining Northern
Illinois at 9:00 a.m. The Bulldogs
also will battle SIU Edwardsville at 7:00 p.m. before facing South Dakota at
2:00 p.m. on Sunday (Jan. 29).
OPENING WEEKEND RECAP: Drake
opened its dual campaign with a 1-1 mark last weekend in Norman, Okla., against
Arkansas-Little Rock and No. 25 Oklahoma.
The Bulldogs garnered their first season-opening victory since 2001 with
a 6-1 decision against the Trojans last Friday (Jan. 20) before suffering a 6-1
setback versus the Sooners on Saturday (Jan. 21).
Drake claimed an early 1-0 advantage against Arkansas-Little Rock after
sweeping the doubles competition with the tandem of senior Gabriela Demos (Chesterfield, Mo.)
and junior Manca Krizman
(Solkan, Slovenia) clinching the point on the strength of an 8-4 triumph past
Michalea McShane and Viktoriya Plyuta at No. 1.
Krizman and senior Jessica Aguilera
(Santa Cruz, Bolivia) stretched the lead to 3-0 in singles play, garnering wins
at the Nos. 2 and 6 slots, respectively.
Delivering the deciding tally in the match was sophomore Klavdija Rebol (Kranj, Slovenia), who
registered a 6-1, 6-0 victory past Plyuta at the top singles position.
Drake also received triumphs from freshman Nell Boyd (Arlington Heights, Ill.)
and junior Ali Patterson
(Overland Park, Kan.) at the Nos. 4 and 5 slots, respectively.
Krizman accounted for Drake's lone victory of the afternoon against
Oklahoma, to overcome dropping the first set before rallying to register a 6-7
(6), 6-3, 10-8 decision past Marie-Pier Huet at the No. 2 singles slot.
The Bulldogs nearly collected the triumph at the No. 6 position where Aguilera
battled Whitney Wofford. After falling in the opening frame, 6-2,
Aguilera won the tiebreaker in the second set, 7-6 (5), before suffering a 10-8
setback in the third-set tiebreaker.
MOVING UP CAREER CHARTS: Senior Gabriela Demos is one doubles victory away from moving into the
top-10 in Drake history in doubles wins as she enters play this weekend with 52
career triumphs. Junior Manca Krizman also has moved up the
combined wins' list for the Bulldogs as she is tied for eighth with Sarah
Plowman (2005-09) for combined victories since the 2006-07 campaign.
UP NEXT: Drake
concludes its four-match homestand welcoming North Dakota to the Roger Knapp
Tennis Center for a 6:00 p.m. contest on Feb. 3.
