DES MOINES, Iowa - The Drake women's tennis team went down to the wire with Missouri Valley Conference leading Southern Illinois on Saturday (April 13) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center before the Salukis garnered a pair of three-set victories to escape with a 4-3 triumph over the Bulldogs.
Southern Illinois staked itself to a 1-0 lead following a sweep of the doubles competition.
The advantage grew to 2-0 in singles after Natasha Tomishima bested freshman Evy Van Genechten (Antwerp, Belgium) on the No. 2 court, 6-3, 6-2.
Freshman Maddie Johnson (Onalaska, Wis.) cut the margin to 2-1 following her 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Jennifer Dien at the No. 4 slot.
Sophomore Nell Boyd (Arlington Heights, Ill.) evened the affair at two, dispatching Ariadna Cairo Baza, 6-4, 6-2, on the No. 5 court.
The match then came down to a trio of third-set tiebreakers after the two sides split the initial two sets at the Nos. 1, 3 and 6 positions.
The Bulldogs needed victories in two of the three tilts if they were to savor a victory. Unfortunately for Drake, only freshman Jordan Eggleston (LaQuinta, Calif.) was able to pull out the triumph in the third set. After dropping the initial frame versus Anastacia Simons at No. 6, 6-4, Eggleston rallied to notch a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
Prior to the match, head coach Paul Thomson and the rest of the Bulldogs honored senior Ali Patterson (Overland Park, Kan.) for her contributions to the Drake program the last four years in Senior Day festivities.
The Bulldogs close out their home schedule on Sunday (April 14) hosting Evansville in a 10:00 a.m. tilt at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS (15-3, 4-0 MVC) DEF. DRAKE (9-9, 2-2 MVC), 4-3
APRIL 13, 2013 • ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER
SINGLES:
No. 1 Melanie Delsart (SIU) def. Klavdija Rebol (DU), 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
No. 2 Natasha Tomishima (SIU) def. Evy Van Genechten (DU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 3 Anita Lee (SIU) def. Lea Kozulic (DU), 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
No. 4 Maddie Johnson (DU) def. Jennifer Dien (SIU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Nell Boyd (DU) def. Ariadna Cairo Baza (SIU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 6 Jordan Eggleston (DU) def. Anastacia Simons (SIU), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish: 2,4,5,1,3,6
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Delsart/Simons (SIU) def. Eggleston/Rebol (DU), 8-4
No. 2 Dien/Tomishima (SIU) def. Johnson/Kozulic (DU), 8-2
No. 3 Lee/Korey Love (SIU) def. Mariel Ante/Ali Patterson (DU), 8-5
Order of finish: 2,3,1
