Women's Tennis Takes Second-Seeded Drake to the Brink in MVC Championship Semis

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference Women's Tennis Championship, the Belmont University women's tennis team came within a few games of reaching the title match. The third-seeded Bruins (10-13, 6-2 MVC) put up a valiant effort Saturday afternoon against second-seeded Drake in the semifinals of the MVC Tournament, capturing the doubles point and forcing a trio of three-set singles matches in a narrow, 4-2 loss.
 
With late-winter-like conditions with the temperature hovering around 40 degrees and the threat of precipitation, the match had to be moved indoors to the Evergreen Racquet Club in Bloomington, Illinois.
 
Freshman All-MVC standout Mariia Hlahola was determined and helped Belmont to both of its points, partnering with sophomore Anastasiya Zholdakova for a win at the top doubles spot before upending the MVC Player of the Year in straight sets at No. 1 singles.
 
The semifinal affair came down to the second and third singles matches where the Bulldogs' Mille Haagensen clinched the match on court two. Zholdakova was up 2-1 in the third set on court three when the match went final.
 
The sophomore duo of Viktoria Kliimand and Abi Solomon secured the doubles point at the second position with a 6-4 triumph over Drake's Oria Parkins-Godwin and Ines Stephani after Hlahola and Zholdakova dismissed the Bulldogs' Haagensen and Darinka Stepan 6-2 at the top spot.
 
Rebecca Ehn and Elizabete Klavinska of Drake were leading graduate student Meredith Roberts and senior Taylor Trondson 5-3 at No. 3 doubles when Kliimand and Solomon put the Bruins up 1-0.
 
Hlahola's dominant 6-2, 6-4 win over MVC Player of the Year Stephani at the top of the lineup gave Belmont a 2-0 lead. However, the Bulldogs (15-7, 7-1 MVC) would win four consecutive matches to punch their ticket to Sunday's title match.
 
Drake evened the match at two apiece with a three-set victory at No. 5 singles. Kliimand recovered from a 6-1 opening set loss to Parkins-Godwin with a 6-2 second set but was defeated 6-1 in the third. The Bulldogs' first point of the day came at the fourth singles position where Stepan topped Roberts 6-2, 6-4.
 
At the sixth singles spot, Ehn got past Trondson 6-1, 7-5 as Drake took a 3-2 lead.
 
Both Solomon and Zholdakova were in pressure-packed matches on courts two and three. Despite Klavinska taking the first set against Zholdakova at No. 3 singles, the match went to a third set after Zholdakova won set two 6-4. The match would go unfinished though as Haagensen prevailed at the second spot. Solomon gritted out an opening set tiebreaker, 7-5, against Haagensen and led in the second set before falling 6-4, 6-1.
 
The Bruins went undefeated outdoors against MVC opponents and only suffered losses to regular season champion Illinois State and the Bulldogs in their inaugural season in the league.
 
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