DES MOINES, Iowa – South Dakota women's tennis got back on the court this past weekend taking part in the Drake Fall Invite.
 
The doubles duo of Anna Marija Bukina and Yulia Almiron Solano went 3-0 to capture the Flight 4 title while the Coyotes had a player in the semifinals in three of the four singles flights.
 
"It was great to get on the road and play a fall tournament for the first time in two years," coach Brett Barnett said. "Like everyone, we definitely had some nerves on day one but we played better and better each day.
 
"We were looking for improvement each day from a mental standpoint and how we were competing and we accomplished that. This was a strong tournament this year and the team stepped up and had some very nice results."
 
South Dakota had one doubles team in each of the four flights and all came away with at least one victory during the three-day event.
 
Jana Lazarevic and Habiba Aly posted a 1-2 mark in Flight 1 doubles, the same for Bea Havlickova and Natka Kmošková in Flight 2 doubles. Sonia Skobkareva and Berta Girbau went 1-1 in Flight 3 doubles.
 
Havlickova and Kmoskova opened with a 8-4 win over Vivien Sandberg and Jillian Roa from Nebraska.
 
"I was really happy with our doubles pairing for the tournament, they all played well and looked very comfortable on court together," said Barnett. "Buki and Yulia did a great job of going 3-0 and winning their flight and Bea and Natka were in total control and beat a strong Nebraska team on day one."
 
Aly, Kmoskova and Bukina all advanced to the semifinals of their respective singles flights during the event.
 
Aly dropped a tense third-set tiebreak (10-8) in her semifinal match against Chloe Kuckelman while Kmoskova was much of the same in falling 11-9 in her third-set tiebreak in her semifinal in Flight 2 singles against Mille Haagensen.
 
Bukina also lost in a third-set tiebreak in her semifinal in Flight 4 singles to Margarita Chouliara and bounced back to finish third by defeating Emily Granson in straight sets to finish the weekend 3-1.
 
"We had some nice results in singles as well with Natka again beating Nebraska and Biba beating North Dakota and Creighton's No. 1's," said Barnett. "It was good to see our depth show as we had a player in the semifinals in three of the four flights and came up a couple points short in having three finalists.
 
"I'm really proud of how hard we competed ins ingles and we did it the right way and weren't taking any shortcuts on court. Our two freshmen got their first taste of college tennis and I felt they acclimated themselves nicely and played some great tennis especially on day three."
 
Kmoskova finished 2-1 in Flight 2, Aly went 2-2 in Flight 1 and Eesha Varma went 2-2 in Flight 4. In total, eight of the nine individuals posted at least one individual victory in singles play.
 
"This event was huge from a development standpoint as we really know what we need to work on as a team and individually," added Barnett. "I'm excited from what I saw and can't wait to compete again at the Gopher Invite in two weeks."