DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake women's tennis team (3-4) fell under the .500 mark after a 1-2 weekend. The Bulldogs opened a stretch of three matches in as many days with a home win over Omaha before getting clipped in back-to-back narrow defeats against Montana State and South Dakota in a pair of neutral site bouts.
 
Drake 6, Omaha 1
The Bulldogs started the weekend with a solid 6-1 over the visiting Mavericks of Omaha on Friday evening. Drake earned the doubles point without needing a win from their top doubles duo at Rebecca Ehn/Ines Stephani and Elizabete Klavinska/Nicole Lee got things done at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively.
 
The Bulldogs went on to dominate singles play, dropping just one match. Stephani and Ehn, along with No. 2 Mille Haagensen, each won in straight sets. Klavinska and Stepan were also victorious, but needed three sets wrap things up.
 
"This win marked our third in a row." Drake assistant Kweisi Kenyatte said after the match. "We're proud of the team for battling despite the early resistance from Omaha. We were able to stay poised and show the things we've worked on. We were excited to keep the momentum rolling to Sioux Falls over the weekend."
 
Montana State 4, Drake 3
The Bulldogs suffered their first of two-straight 4-3 losses on Saturday when they were edged by Montana State. The Bobcats opened the match by earning the doubles point after Drake managed just one tandem win by Haagensen and Stepan.
 
Drake bounced back to start singles action as Haagensen defeated Paula Dougherty at No. 2 and Stephani earned a win at No. 1 over the Bobcats' Marta Garcia-Reboredo. Darinka Stepan kept things interesting with a win at No. 5, but Drake could not overcome the deficit and fell, 4-3.
 
South Dakota 4, Drake 3
Sunday's match started in eerily similar fashion as the Coyotes took the doubles point after their pairing of Beata Havlickova and Sorcha Caves won in the top position. Paige Alter and Amanda Oliveira earned a win via forfeit at No. 3.
 
Stephani and Haagensen took care of their business at the top of Drake's singles lineup, but the Dogs stumbled again in the lower matches. Caves collected a win by retirement over Klavinska, her second such loss in as many matches. Ehn dropped a lengthy battle at No. 4 before Stepan was beaten in straight sets by Grace Chadick.
 
Nicole Lee did pick up a crucial point in the sixth spot with a dramatic two-set win over Alter, but her effort was not enough to swing things back towards the Bulldogs as Drake fell again, 4-3.
 
"I'm disappointed in how we ended the weekend," Drake head coach Breaunna Addison said. "We suffered some injuries that presented challenges for us, but our biggest hurdle was our mental response to that adversity. We had some unfortunate tough losses, but I'm confident we learned some lessons and how to commit to our brand of tennis…that will pay dividends later this season."
 
The Bulldogs are off this coming week and will return to the court on Feb. 18 when they visit Iowa.
 
 
SINGLES vs. OMAHA
1. Ines Stephani (DU) def. Paula Arcarons (OMA) 6-1, 6-4
2. Mille Haagensen (DU) def. Zoe Adkins (OMA) 6-4, 6-3
3. Elizabete Klavinska (DU) def. Khayli Buckles (OMA) 4-6, 6-3, 11-9
4. Rebecca Ehn (DU) def. Keegan VanPelt (OMA)
5. Darinka Stepan (DU) def. Summer Shannon (OMA) 6-2, 5-7, 10-8
6. Colby Kelley (OMA) def. Nicole Lee (DU) 6-4, 1-6, 8-10
 
DOUBLES vs. OMAHA
1. Mille Haagensen/Darinka Stepan (DU) vs. Zoe Adkins/Paula Arcarons (OMA) DNF
2. Rebecca Ehn/Ines Stephani (DU) def. Colby Kelley/Keegan VanPelt (OMA) 6-3
3. Elizabete Klavinska/Nicole Lee (DU) def. Addison Miller/Summer Shannon (OMA) 6-4
 
 
SINGLES vs. MONTANA STATE
1. Ines Stephani (DU) def. Marta Garcia-Reboredo (MTST) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
2. Mille Haagensen (DU) def. Paula Dougherty (MTST) 6-4, 6-2
3. Meg McCarty (MTST) def. Elizabete Klavinska (DU) by retirement 4-6, 6-3
4. Angel Bean (MTST) def. Rebecca Ehn (DU) 6-4, 7-6(9)
5. Darinka Stepan (DU) def. Andrea Cuquerella (MTST) 6-3, 6-2
6. Felicia Jayasuputra (MTST) def. Nicole Lee (DU) 6-1, 6-1
 
DOUBLES vs. MONTANA STATE
1. Mille Haagensen/Darinka Stepan (DU) def. Marta Garcia-Reboredo/Hudson Hawkins (MTST) 7-6(2)
2. Angel Bean/Jazmin Lerman (MTST) def. Rebecca Ehn/Ines Stephani 7-6(7)
3. Meg McCarty/Andrea Cuquerello (MTST) def. Elizabete Klavinska/Nicole Lee 6-2
 
 
SINGLES vs. SOUTH DAKOTA
1. Ines Stephani (DU) def. Beata Havlickova (SDAK) 6-4, 6-3
2. Mille Haagensen (DU) def. Amanda De Oliveira (SDAK) 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
3. Sorcha Caves (SDAK) def. Elizabete Klavinska (DU) by retirement
4. Anna Medvyedyeva (SDAK) def. Rebecca Ehn (DU) 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
5. Grace Chadick (SDAK) def. Darinka Stepan (DU) 7-5, 6-0
6. Nicole Lee (DU) def. Paige Alter (SDAK) 6-4, 7-6
 
DOUBLES vs. SOUTH DAKOTA
1. Beata Havlickova/Sorcha Caves (SDAK) def. Mille Haagensen/Darinka Stepan (DU) 6-2
2. Anna Medvyedyeva/Grace Chadick (SDAK) vs. Rebecca Ehn/Ines Stephani (DU) DNF
3. Paige Alter/Amanda De Oliveira (SDAK) win by forfeit