DES MOINES – The Drake University women's tennis team will compete in three duals in three days this weekend.
The Bulldogs will face Iowa State at Lifetime Fitness in Urbandale on Friday at 1 p.m. before hosting two matches – against Milwaukee on Saturday at 11 a.m. and against Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday at 9 a.m. – at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
Drake (2-3) lost to Minnesota, 7-0, in Minneapolis in its last match, but
Joely Lomas and
Liza Petushkova provided a silver lining. The duo was named the Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week after knocking off a pair from Minnesota, 6-4.
Lomas and Petushkova were also named MVC Doubles Team of the Week on Feb. 4 after defeating challengers from Wisconsin, 6-3. The Drake duo is 4-1 together this season.
Iowa State (6-2) has already matched its win total from a season ago (6-12). The Cyclones are led by the doubles pairing of Christin Hsieh and Thasaporn Naklo, the 45
th-ranked doubles combination in the country. Hsieh and Naklo are 8-2 together this season and are the first doubles set in Iowa State history to earn a national ranking.
Milwaukee will bring a 4-3 record to Des Moines. Nicole Clarke leads the Panthers with a 7-0 mark in singles play this season. Clarke and Nikki Milner are 5-1 in doubles play this season, suffering their first defeat last week against Bradley. The Bulldogs knocked off the Panthers, 4-0, last season in Milwaukee.
Drake will wrap up its action-packed weekend with a Sunday morning dual against Gustavus Adolphus. The Gusties are 1-0 this year and will face Northern Iowa before squaring off against Drake.