Des Moines, IA - The Bulldogs went 1-1 on the weekend at home against Bradley and Illinois State. Drake handily won 6-1 over Bradley on Saturday before losing 4-3 against Illinois State on Sunday.
 
Drake 6, Bradley 1
The Bulldogs won the first and second doubles matches against Bradley to build a 1-0 match lead. Darinka Stepan and Mille Haagensen continued their stellar play from last weekend by defeating Maria Bezmenova and Anna Belogliadova 6-3. Ines Stephani and Rebecca Ehn played a close tiebreaker match against Kirstin Hailey and Andra Sirhu and won 7-5.
 
Haagensen shut out her opponent 6-0 in the first set and won 6-1 in the second set to win her singles match against Belogliadova. Stepan followed up Haagensen's dominance with a straight-set win of her own, winning 6-1 and 6-3 over Sirhu. Stephani gave Drake the match victory by defeating Bezmenova 6-1 and 7-5. Nicole Lee continued her match and she won 6-4, 6-4 to give the Bulldogs five straight set wins. Bradley's lone point came from the Bulldogs forfeiting the final singles match. 
 
Illinois State 3, Drake 4
The Bulldogs welcomed the Redbirds to Des Moines on Sunday and dropped the match 4-3. Illinois State swept the Bulldogs in doubles play by winning two matches and taking the third by forfeit. Haagensen and Stepan fell to Silvia Pomarolli and Nevena Kolarevic 6-2 to give Illinois State the match's first point. Tijana Zlatanovic and Lana Caculovic finished doubles by defeating  Stepani and Ehn 6-4.
 
The Redbirds got off to a hot start in singles when Nuria Sanz defeated Lee 6-1, 6-1. Pomarolli gave the match victory to Illinois State by defeating Stepan 6-2, 6-2. The Redbirds also gained a match point due to the last singles contest being forfeited, which made Pomarolli's victory the deciding fourth point of the match. The Bulldogs went on to win the final three singles contests, despite the match loss. Stephani went to two tie-breaker sets against Zlatanovic and won 7-5 and 7-6, Haagensen won in straight sets over Kolarevic and Ehn won a three-set thriller, with two sets going to tie-breakers.

"Tough loss today, but I'm proud of the way our top half of the lineup stepped up today, and a special thank you to all that came out and supported," assistant coach Kweisi Kenyatte said. "We really felt the love from the Des Moines tennis community and will need your support for senior day against Belmont."
 
Doubles Results vs. Bradley (Order of Finish 2, 1)

1. Rebecca Ehn and Ines Stephani (DU) defeated Kristin Hailey and Andra Sirbu (ISU) 7-5
2. Mille Haagensen and Darinka Stepan (DU) defeated Anna Belogliadova and Maria Bezmenova (ISU) 6-3
3. The Bulldogs forfeited the last doubles match

Singles Results vs. Bradley (Order of Finish 2, 4, 1, 3, 5)

1. Ines Stephani (DU) defeated Maria Bezmenova (ISU) 6-1, 7-5
2. Mille Haagensen (DU) defeated Anna Belogliadova (ISU) 6-0, 6-1
3. Rebecca Ehn (DU) defeated Kristin Hailey (ISU) 6-3, 7-6 [7-1]
4. Darinka Stepan (DU) defeated Andra Sirbu (ISU) 6-1, 6-3
5. Nicole Lee (DU) defeated Alex Hildreth (ISU) 6-4, 6-4
6. The Bulldogs forfeited the last singles match

Doubles Results vs. Illinois State (Order of Finish 2, 1)

1. Tijana Zlatanovic and Lana Caculovia (ISU) defeated Ines Stephani and Rebecca Ehn (DU) 7-5
2. Silvia Pomarolli and Nevena Kolarevic (ISU) defeated Mille Haagensen and Darinka Stepan (DU) 6-2
3. The Bulldogs forfeited the last doubles match

Singles Results vs. Illinois State (Order of Finish 5, 1, 4, 2, 3)

1. Ines Stephani (DU) defeated Tijana Zlatanovic (ISU) 7-5, 7-6
2. Mille Haagensen (DU) defeated Nevena Kolarevic (ISU) 6-3, 6-2
3. Rebecca Ehn (DU) defeated Lana Caculovic (ISU) 3-6, 7-6, 7-6
4. Silvia Pomarolli (ISU) defeated Darinka Stepan (DU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Nuria Sanz (ISU) defeated Nicole Lee (DU) 6-1, 6-1
6. The Bulldogs forfeited the last singles match