Nashville, Tenn. – Drake women's tennis fell to Belmont 4-3 in the quarterfinal round of the MVC tournament. The match came down to the wire, but the Bulldogs were ultimately unable to stop the Bruins.
 
Belmont 4, Drake 3
Drake was once again playing a woman short, meaning they had to forfeit the final doubles match. Even with the disadvantage, the Bulldogs beat out the Bruins in doubles play. Drake's top doubles tandem of Ines Stephani and Rebecca Ehn took down Belmont's top duo of Mariia Hlahola and Anastasi Zholdakova 6-3 to keep Drake's doubles point prospect alive. Mille Haagensen and Darinka Stepan then rallied to win 6-4 over Vesa Gjinaj and Viktoria Kliimand, earning the Bulldogs the first point of the match.
 
The short-handed Bulldogs also had to forfeit the last singles match, evening the score at one apiece for Drake and Belmont. The number one singles spot featured a battle between the MVC co-Players of the Year – Stephani and Hlahola. Stephani defeated Hlahola last weekend in the final regular season match, and she continued her dominance into the playoffs, winning 7-5, 7-5 in straight sets. The Bruins swiftly erased a 2-1 Bulldog lead when Gjinaj defeated Haagensen 6-1, 6-3 in the second singles spot. Nicole Lee continued the back-and-forth nature of the match by winning 6-2, 7-5 in the fifth singles spot over Aly Getty, giving Drake a 3-2 match advantage.
 
The Bulldogs needed one more victory to advance in the tournament but fell short in the final two matches. Stepan won the first set 7-6 [7-2] over Kliimand, but fell 6-2 and 6-1 in the second and third sets. Stepan's loss brought the score to a 3-3 tie, and the match's decision fell on the number three singles game, which featured Ehn versus All-Conference First Team selection Zholdakova. Ehn started her match strong with a 6-1 first-set victory but faltered and lost 6-4 and 6-3 in the final two sets.
 
Doubles Results (Order of Finish 2, 1)

• Rebecca Ehn and Ines Stephani (DU) defeated Mariia Hlahola and Anastasi Zholdakova (BEL) 6-3
• Mille Haagensen and Darinka Stepan (DU) defeated Vesa Gjinaj and Viktoria Kliimand (BEL) 6-4
• Drake forfeited the final doubles match

Singles Results (1, 2, 5, 4, 3)

• Ines Stephani (DU) defeated Mariia Hlahola (BEL) 7-5, 7-5
• Vesa Gjinaj (BEL) defeated Mille Haagensen (DU) 6-1, 6-3
• Anastasi Zholdakova (BEL) defeated Rebecca Ehn (DU) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Viktoria Kliimand (BEL) defeated Darinka Stepan (DU) 6-7 [2-7], 6-2, 6-1
• Nicole Lee (DU) defeated Aly Getty (BEL) 6-2, 7-5
• Drake forfeited the final singles match