MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Drake women's tennis began its fall schedule in the Twin Cities at the Gopher Invitational over the weekend. The Bulldogs saw progress from start to finish in Minneapolis for a solid start to their year.

Standout sophomore Shiori Takeda was the lone bright spot in singles play on day one with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-2 victory over St. Thomas' Lily Olson. Her win over Olson jumpstarted a 3-0 weekend in singles action.

Takeda bounced right back for another singles win on day two over Lasya Mylavarapu of Northern Iowa. Takeda's day two triumph was one of four for the Bulldogs as Drake posted an unblemished record including wins by Elizabete Klavinska (4-6, 6-1, 10-6 over Alyssa Giupponi of North Dakota), Maja Dodik (6-4, 6-4 over Caroline Lindahl of St. Thomas), and Jordane Dookie (6-4, 7-5 over Else Vander Stichele of St. Thomas).

Takeda and Klavinska both then earned singles wins on day three. Takeda took down Marquette's Joelle Fiallo Schad (7-6, 6-0) while Klavinska beat Ingrid Forsberg of St. Thomas in straight sets (6-3, 6-4).

The Bulldogs mixed and matched their lineup throughout doubles action at the Gopher Invitational. Dookie and Dodik teamed up for a 6-4 win over UNI's duo of Yangjiaxin Li and Kanyanut Sudsaard on day one.

Drake's bunch earned a pair of doubles wins on day two as Dodik partnered with Klavinska for a victory via forfeit, and Takeda and Dookie defeated South Dakota's Keta Shavishvili and Natalia Alves De Lima by a 6-2 margin.

"We had a really strong weekend of matches and I'm very pleased with how our team is progressing," Drake head coach Calvin Song said. "Everyone stepped up and competed with a lot of toughness and grit. These kinds of matches are very valuable for our development, and this experience we gained will continue to help us grow as we move into the rest of our fall schedule."

Drake will travel to Normal, Ill. next weekend for the Redbird Invitational from Sep. 26-28.