Results

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WICHITA, Kan. - Ema Turudija won in straight sets for Missouri State, but it wasn't enough as Drake won four singles matches to top the Bears, 4-1, and end MSU's season in the MVC Team Tennis Championship quarterfinals Friday, at the Wichita Country Club. The third-seeded Bulldogs (15-11) move on to face second-seed Southern Illinois in the MVC semifinals Saturday.

"It was a great effort out there (today)," Bears head coach Mallory Weber said. "Drake is a high-quality team, they have a lot of very good players and I think we competed exceptionally well. I think we put ourselves in position, we had opportunities, it was a battle and we just came up short."

Ema Turudija was the lone MSU player to earn a victory. Turudija won her first set at No. 1 singles 6-1, but Drake's Mariel Ante took a 4-1 lead in the second. The MSU senior rallied to force a tiebreaker. Turudija was down set point on two occasions, but eventually pulled off two straight points to finish off a 6-1, 7-6 (9) win.

Turudija initially tied the dual at 1-1 following a victory for the Bulldogs at No. 2 singles. Drake's Maddie Johnson defeated Miranda Poile 6-3, 6-2. It was the final collegiate match for MSU's Turudija and Poile.

"Ema and Miranda's experience and talent are going to be very hard to replace," Weber said. "They're not only our top two players in singles and doubles, but the leadership and fight they have are great and they just get it. That's something you can't teach. We're certainly going to miss that, but hopefully these girls that have been through this with them will continue to grow and fill in that role."

MSU's Faty Khamissi won her first set at the No. 4 slot 6-3, but Drake's Summer Brills battled back to take the next two sets by 6-2 margins. Anelisse Torrico Moreno also held a lead in her first set for the Bears at the No. 3 position, but lost 7-5, 6-3 as the Bulldogs took a 3-1 advantage.

Drake clinched the match at No. 5 singles. After dropping the first set 6-1, the Bears' Phoebe Boeschen came back to take a 4-2 advantage, but eventually fell 6-4 to Joely Lomas. MSU's Ekaterina Donetskova was down 5-4 at No. 6 singles to Lea Kozulic when the match was left unfinished.

The Bears finished season with an overall mark of 11-14, a seven-win increase from their 2014-15 campaign.

"It's hard to see it today because it's hard to lose, but the season as a whole was a huge improvement (from a year ago)," Weber said. "Definitely a success in so many ways. The girls grew so much and that's going to be so valuable going into next year. We lose two huge pieces in Miranda and Ema, but we gain great freshman and we have such a core nucleus coming back that has so much experience. I think we're going to be ready to go and be very excited for next year."


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