The Basics
Drake women's tennis will be back at home this weekend for back-to-back matches in the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The Bulldogs are set to host Big East Conferencefoes DePaul (Feb. 7) and Creighton (Feb. 8) with their sights set on picking up their first win of the 2025 season.
 
Bulldog Breakdown
New Drake head coach Calvin Song added a handful of young newcomers to the roster. The first-year Bulldogs include sophomore Laura Koralnik, a transfer from Buffalo, plus four freshmen in Jessica Popiol of Bartlett, Ill., and Jana Ruzic, Shiori Takeda, and Tess Caldicott, all of whom hail from Australia. Song also returns Nicole Lee and Elizabete Klavinska, two key contributors from previous Drake teams.
 
The Bulldogs began their spring season last weekend with trips to Kansas State and Arkansas. The Wildcats and Razorbacks swept Drake, 7-0 and 4-0 against both squads, to reach their current 0-4 record.
 
Lee and Caldicott teamed up in the No. 2 doubles position to take down K-State's Tereza Polakova and Zali Morris for Drake's only win of the day. That victory earned the duo the first Missouri Valley Conference Doubles Team of the Week award. Lee then teamed up with Ruzic to pick up a Doubles No. 3 win in Fayetteville. That tandem was a finalist for the same weekly award.
 
Scouting the Competition
DePaul enters this weekend at 3-2 overall and 1-0 against Big East teams. The Blue Demons recently won two straight tilts over Georgetown and George Washington during a trip to our nation's capital. Their two losses came on the road to power conference opponents Northwestern and Notre Dame.
 
Creighton has put together an excellent start of its own in 2025. The Bluejays are 3-1 with three straights wins over Missouri State, UNI, and Gustavus Adolphus after opening their spring campaign with a defeat at Kansas. Creighton will be seeking just their second win all-time vs. Drake on Saturday afternoon.
 
Up Next
Drake will continue their 4-game homestand with a matchup against Marquette (Feb. 28) to close the month and a mid-March battle with Omaha (Mar. 13).