OMAHA, Neb. - The Drake women's tennis team
garnered its first postseason victory since 2006 with a 4-1 triumph over
Northern Iowa at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Friday (April 27).
"This was such a big win for our team and especially the seniors," Bulldog head coach Paul Thomson commented. "They keep fighting and scrapping. Today was a great effort, but we still have more work ahead of us."
The Bulldogs staked
themselves to an early 1-0 advantage after securing the doubles point on the
strength of an 8-1 decision by senior Jessica Aguilera (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and sophomore
Klavdija Rebol
(Kranj, Slovenia) over Jessica Kunzelmann and Nina Pfahler at the No. 2
position.
The two sides had
split wins at the Nos. 1 and 3 slots before Drake collected the doubles tally.
Senior Gabriela Demos
(Chesterfield, Mo.) extended the Bulldogs' lead to 2-0 in singles downing Kunzelmann
at No. 3, 6-4, 6-0.
Adding her 31st
singles win of the year at the top slot was junior Manca Krizman (Solkan, Slovenia), who bested
Pfahler, 6-3, 6-1.
The Panthers cut the
Bulldogs' advantage to 3-1 with a triumph by Chelsea Moore over freshman Nell Boyd (Arlington
Heights, Ill.) at No. 4, 7-5, 6-3.
Clinching the
Bulldogs' first postseason triumph since defeating Missouri State in the
quarterfinal round of the State Farm MVC Championship in 2006 was Rebol, who
rallied for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win past Cassandra Dix at the No. 2 position.
Drake next faces
Illinois State in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Championship on Saturday
(April 28) at 9:00 a.m.
DRAKE (22-6) DEF.
NORTHERN IOWA (9-11), 4-1
APRIL 27, 2012 •
OMAHA, NEB.
SINGLES:
No. 1 Manca Krizman
(DU) def. Nina Pfahler (UNI), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 Klavdija Rebol
(DU) def. Cassandra Dix (UNI), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 Gabriela Demos
(DU) def. Jessica Kunzelmann (UNI), 6-4, 6-0
No. 4 Chelsea Moore
(UNI) def. Nell Boyd (DU), 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 Jessica Aguilera (DU) led Krissy Lankelma (UNI), 6-3, 3-2 unfinished
No. 6 Stafannia
Sampaio (UNI) led Amanda Aragon (DU), 6-4, unfinished
Order of finish: (3,1,4,2)
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Demos/Krizman
(DU) def. Dix/Lankelma (UNI), 8-0
No. 2 Aguilera/Rebol
(DU) def. Kunzelmann/Pfahler (UNI), 8-1
No. 3 Moore/Sampaio
(UNI) def. Aragon/Boyd (DU), 8-1
Order of finish: (1,3,2)
