The Basics
Drake women's tennis has two home games on the slate for this weekend against two Missouri Valley Conference opponents. The Bulldogs will begin the weekend playing Bradley on Saturday, April 13 at 1 p.m. and finish against Illinois State on Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. Both games will occur in the Roger Knapp Tennis Center in Des Moines.
Bulldogs by the Numbers
The Bulldogs hold a 7-10 record with a 3-2 mark against Missouri Valley Conference opponents. Drake is currently tied with Belmont for the fourth-place spot in the conference standings. Last weekend, the Bulldogs split road matches against Missouri State and Murray State. They took down Missouri State 4-1 but lost 4-3 to Murray State on the following day.
Ines Stephani – a senior from Wanaka, New Zealand – competes in the top singles spot for head coach
Breaunna Addison. Stephani went 1-1 in her matches last weekend. She began the weekend with a strong straight sets win over her Missouri State opponent but was unable to come away with a win against Murray State in a tight match that rallied to three sets. Stephani and Bulldog graduate student
Rebecca Ehn form Drake's top doubles duet. The duo went 2-0 last weekend and were the catalyst for the Bulldogs winning the doubles point in both matches. Stephani and Ehn shut out their Missouri State opponent 6-0 and defeated their Murray State competition 6-4.
Scouting the Competition
The Bradley Braves are 7-13 on the year and 1-3 against MVC competition, netting them a tie for sixth place in the conference standings. The Braves are on a cold streak, having lost four of five matches heading into Des Moines. The Braves lone win in that five-game stretch came over Valparaiso.
The Braves pencil in Maria Bezmenova, a senior from Tomsk, Russia, as their top singles champion. Bezmenova was defeated in straight sets in Bradley's last match, which was a loss to Illinois State. Andra Sirbu and Kristin Hailey open matches for the Braves as the top doubles pair. Sirbu and Hailey put together an impressive performance in Bradley's recent loss to Illinois State. The duo won in the first doubles position 6-4 to catapult the Braves over the Redbirds for the doubles point.
Drake has commanded their matches against Bradley women's tennis dating back to 2004, as they hold a 19-2 record against Bradley in all-time play. Drake is also on a three-game win streak against their MVC opponent.
Illinois State has played to a 13-6 record, including a 4-1 tally against MVC opponents. The Redbirds are perched at the top half of the MVC standings, only sitting underneath Murray State, who's undefeated in conference play. The Redbirds will play against Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa on Saturday, April 13 before they travel in-state to play Drake on Sunday.
Tijana Zlatanovic plays in the first singles slot for the Redbirds. The senior from Austria won her last match against Bradley's Bezmenova 6-1, 6-1 in straight sets. Zlatanovic teams up with Lana Caculovic, a Croatia native, to compete in the top doubles spot for Illinois State. The Eastern European duo dropped their last match 6-4 against Bradley.
Drake has a 10-16 record against Illinois State in women's tennis meetings. The Bulldogs went on a 10-game losing streak against the Redbirds from 2005 to 2011, but have improved play against them in recent years. Drake won over the Redbirds 4-3 in 2023 and will look to extend their winning streak against Illinois State to two games on Sunday.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will honor their seniors against Belmont on Sunday, April 21 at 11 a.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.
