The Drake women's tennis team returns to action this weekend hosting the Missouri Valley Conference Individuals for the first time since 2008.
The three-day event will run from Friday (Oct. 3) through Sunday (Oct. 5) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center with competition beginning each day at 9:00 a.m.
The eight-team field includes; Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Illinois State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Wichita State
2014 RIVIERA/ITA ALL-AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
In her first foray on the national stage, Drake junior Maddie Johnson (Onalaska, Wis.) came up short in her bid to advance in the pre-qualifying draw at the Riviera/Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American Championships last Saturday (Sept. 27) in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The 119th-rated player in the country, Johnson battled Boston College's Jessica Wacnik before coming up short in a 6-2, 6-4 setback.
2013 MVC INDIVIDUALS RECAP
Maddie Johnson sparked Drake to a pair of championships during the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Individuals in St. Louis, Mo.
Johnson registered a come-from-behind, 0-6, 6-1, 6-1, triumph past Kadi Ilves of Illinois State to win the No. 5 singles draw.
In doubles, the tandem of Nell Boyd (Arlington Heights, Ill.) and Jordan Eggleston (LaQuinta, Calif.) garnered the No. 2 flight title dispatching Julia Schiller and Abby Stevens of Wichita State, 8-5.
The Bulldogs also benefitted from consolation singles victories courtesy of Lea Kozulic (Varazdin, Croatia) and Mariel Ante (Riverside, Calif.) in the Nos. 4 and 6 draws, respectively.
In consolation doubles action, the tandems of Johnson and Kozulic and Ante and Klavdija Rebol posted triumphs at the Nos. 1 and 3 flights.
DRAKE ODDS-N-ENDS
• Four Drake players own titles at the MVC Individuals during their careers as a Bulldog. A year ago, Maddie Johnson won the No. 5 singles crown, while Nell Boyd and Jordan Eggleston took home the No. 2 doubles championship. In 2012, Mariel Ante registered a three-set triumph to claim the No. 7 singles title.
• Mariel Ante will make her 2014 fall debut for Drake at the MVC Individuals playing in the No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles flights, respectively.
• The Bulldogs have won five tournament titles this fall. Freshmen Tess Herder (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Adrienne Jensen (Iowa City, Iowa) captured the 'B' and 'C' singles flights at the Drake Fall Invitational, while the Bulldogs won three doubles crowns at the Gopher Invitational. Nell Boyd and Maddie Johnson claimed the No. 5 and 'Gopher' flights, while Summer Brills (North Oaks, Minn.) and Jordan Eggleston earned the No. 7 doubles title.
• The Bulldogs own a 32-15 combined singles/doubles ledger this fall. Boyd and Johnson lead the way with 8-3 and 8-4 marks, respectively, followed by Brills (6-4), Eggleston (6-4), Herder (5-1), Jensen (5-1), Lea Kozulic (3-2) and Mela Jaglarz (Bloomingdale, Ill.) (2-2).
• Herder and Jensen lead Drake with four singles victories apiece. In doubles, Johnson owns a team-best six triumphs.
• Johnson recorded her 100th career victory on Sept. 21 with her 6-3, 7-6 (3) win over Milwaukee's Alysa Straub in singles play at the Gopher Invitational.
• Boyd will enter the MVC Individuals (Oct. 3-5) needing one win for 150 career victories as a Bulldog.
• Since the 2006-07 campaign, Boyd is Drake's active leader in combined victories with 149. Eggleston is seventh on the list with 115 combined triumphs, while just outside the top 10 with 100 is Johnson.
• Boyd is currently ranked fourth all-time at Drake in singles victories (78), two wins shy of surpassing Annali de Bruyn for third place.
• Boyd is fourth all-time at Drake in doubles wins (71), while Eggleston moved into the top 10 at No. 9 (58) after her efforts at the Gopher Invitational.
• Since the 2006-07 campaign, Eggleston and Mariel Ante posted the fourth- and fifth-most singles triumphs in season last year with 30 and 26, respectively. Eggleston, Boyd, and Johnson complete the top 10 with their 24-, 24- and 22-win campaigns in 2013. In doubles, Boyd, Eggleston, Johnson and Ante are ranked first (31), first (31), fifth (24) and ninth (23), respectively.
• Johnson, Eggleston, Ante and Boyd are rated first, second, fourth and fifth, respectively, at Drake (since the 2007-08 campaign) in winning percentage in singles play. The quartet owns .786 (55-15), .712 (57-23), .672 (41-20) and .661 (78-40) winning percentages, respectively. In doubles, Eggleston, Boyd and Johnson highlight the top-three spots sporting .716 (58-23), .676 (71-34) and .652 (45-24) winning percentages.
• With its 16 wins last season, Drake has now collected at least 13 victories in each of the last four campaigns.
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Drake returns five letterwinners from a squad that advanced to the title match of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship for the first time since 2001 a year ago, en route to posting a 16-6 ledger, including a 4-2 showing in the MVC.
Nell Boyd led Drake with 63 combined singles/doubles victories, while the Bulldogs also had combined win totals of 62, 55, 49 and 27 from Jordan Eggleston, Maddie Johnson, Mariel Ante and Lea Kozulic.
Boyd and Johnson each registered a team-best 31 singles victories a year ago, while Eggleston and Boyd each posted 32 doubles triumphs.
Added to the competitive mix for the Bulldogs this fall is freshmen Summer Brills, Tess Herder, Mela Jaglarz and Adrienne Jensen.
JOHNSON GARNERS ITA PRESEASON SINGLES' RANKING
Junior Maddie Johnson earned national recognition for her play when the ITA recently released its national preseason singles and doubles rankings.
Recording a 55-17 combined singles/doubles mark, including earning a team-high 31 singles victories en route to being named a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference honoree last season; Johnson came in at No. 119 in the national singles tabulations.
DRAKE EARNS ITA RANKINGS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2002
On the strength of its 7-1 start to the 2014 campaign, Drake cracked into the ITA national rankings checking in at No. 72 in the poll released on March 4. The ranking was the first for the Bulldogs since being rated 75th on Feb. 13, 2002.
HOME COOKING
The Bulldogs own a 37-11 record in the Roger Knapp Tennis Center since 2011 in dual matches.
DRAKE HEAD COACH SADHAF PERVEZ
Sadhaf Pervez is in her second year as head women's tennis coach at Drake. An assistant coach with eight years collegiate coaching experience, including the 2012-13 campaign at Princeton, she was named the Bulldogs' head coach on July 9, 2013.
In her initial campaign as a head coach, she directed the Bulldogs to their fourth consecutive double-digit victory campaign with a 16-6 overall record, including a 4-2 mark in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Pervez led Drake to a 7-1 start to its 2014 campaign en route to cracking the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) national rankings for the first time since 2002 when the Bulldogs checked in at No. 72 on March 4.
Playing with only six players during the entire dual campaign, Drake found success away from the Roger Knapp Tennis Center as the Bulldogs posted a 9-4 ledger. Drake was equally successful maintaining its homecourt, registering a 7-2 mark at home.
The Bulldogs' bid to capture the MVC regular season crown went down to the wire before Drake suffered a 4-3 setback in its regular season finale at Wichita State.
The Bulldogs entered the MVC Championship as the No. 3 seed and bested Evansville and Southern Illinois by identical 4-1 scores to reach the title match of the MVC Championship for the first time since 2001. The Bulldogs battled in the championship match but were unable to dethrone the Shockers, dropping a 4-0 decision.
Some of the highlights of Pervez's initial campaign as head coach included; Drake defeating its first Southeastern Conference opponent since the 1993 campaign with its 4-3 triumph at Missouri, the Bulldogs winning at Iowa State for the first time since Jan. 31, 2004, the Bulldogs posting a 5-2 win at Nebraska, the 2013 Big Ten Conference regular season champions, their first over the Huskers since a 4-2 triumph Feb. 17, 1996 and earning Drake's first-ever triumph over Wisconsin, 4-3.
Four Bulldogs garnered All-MVC accolades when the conference released it postseason awards as Maddie Johnson, Nell Boyd and Jordan Eggleston were tabbed first-team All-MVC honorees at the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 singles slots, respectively, while Klavdija Rebol was named to the MVC All-Select squad. The three first-team honorees were the most for the Bulldogs since four Drake players were selected to the All-MVC first team in 1999.
Off the court, Johnson garnered recognition for her work in the classroom with her selection to the MVC Scholar-Athlete first team as well as being tabbed a first-team Capital One Academic All-America All-District VI At-Large selection. She also was chosen as the MVC Women's Tennis Elite 18 Award winner, which honors the highest achievement on academics and athletics by a student-athlete in each league-sponsored sport.
Pervez came to Drake after spending the 2012-13 season as an assistant coach at Princeton. She helped mentor three Tigers to All-Ivy League accolades this spring, including Lindsay Graff, who was tabbed a first-team All-Ivy selection in singles.
Pervez also contributed to the signing of the nation's No. 7 recruiting class as chosen by TennisRecruiting.net.
She previously served from 2005-11 as an assistant coach at her alma mater, Ohio State, as well as a one-year stint at Nebraska (2004-05).
During her tenure at Ohio State, she helped the Buckeyes reach the NCAA Tournament three times (2008, 2009 and 2010), including earning a 4-1 victory over DePaul in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes established a school record for victories as well as achieving a school-record No. 17 ITA ranking during the 2010 campaign.
During her playing career at Ohio State from 1999-2003, she accumulated 190 combined singles/double victories en route to earning first-team All-Big Ten accolades as a senior in 2003.
The Buckeyes qualified for the NCAA Tournament during each of her four seasons in Columbus and posted the school's first-ever tournament victory, 5-3, over the University of Miami in 2000.
She is third and fifth, respectively, in Buckeye' women's tennis history in singles (99) and doubles (91) wins.
A native of Warren, New Jersey, Pervez graduated from The Ohio State University in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in business marketing.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs will travel to Stillwater, Okla., to compete at the ITA Central Regional host by Oklahoma State (Oct. 16-20).
