Completed Event: Tennis versus Blue Gray National Tennis Classic on September 12, 2025 ,
Final
Tennis
Blue Gray National Tennis Classic
Iowa State University Athletics
Friday, February 21
Urbandale, Iowa
1:00 PM
Iowa State
5
vs
2
Drake
Cyclones Extend Home Winning Streak Against Drake
02.21.2020 | Tennis
URBANDALE, Iowa – The Cyclones tennis team extended its longest single-season home winning streak in school history, beating Drake, 5-2, Friday afternoon at Life Time Fitness. The victory pushes Iowa State to 7-2 on the season, while Drake falls to 2-4.
Iowa State started the match off firing on all cylinders as all doubles pairings got out to early leads in their respective matches. Ting-Pei Chang and Maty Cancini once again made quick work of their opponents, winning 6-2. The No. 3 slot, Chie Kezuka and Margarita Timakova, finished off their opponents soon thereafter, winning 6-3 and clinching the doubles point for Iowa State.
However, in the No. 1 slot, the #45 ranked doubles pairing of Christin Hsieh and Thasaporn Naklo faced some stiff competition. After the Cyclones were leading most of the match, Liza Petushkova and Joely Lomas came back to tie the Cyclones top pairing and force a decisive tiebreaker. Once again, the Cyclones built an early lead, leading by as much as 6-2, but they never quite forced Drake out of the match. Drake was able to come back to tie Iowa State, and the back-and-forth match ended in a Bulldog victory, 7-6 (12).
Following the tough loss in doubles, the 87th-ranked Naklo was not hindered in her singles matchup. The freshman cruised past Maria Tatarnikova to win every game in her first set, 6-0. Naklo went on to win it 6-0, 6-1.
With Drake facing a 2-0 deficit, Iowa State turned to two other stellar freshmen. Chang won 6-2, 6-3, and Kezuka won her match 6-2, 6-2. The two Cyclone victories clinched the win for Iowa State, and extended personal winning streaks for both athletes to seven matches each.
In finishing out the matchup against the Bulldogs, all eyes were on Hsieh to see if she could hold off her opponent. While facing Lomas, one of her opponents in doubles, Hsieh easily won her first set. However, Lomas was not going to fall easily, taking the second set to extra games. In the end, Hsieh ended up sealing the hard-fought victory, 6-2, 7-5.
Up next, Iowa State will be looking to capture their first victory away from the comfortable confines of Life Time Fitness in Urbandale on Sunday. The Cyclones will head to Lincoln to face off against Nebraska at 11 a.m.
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1)
#1 – Liza Petushkova/Joely Lomas (Drake) def. Christin Hsieh/Thasaporn Naklo (ISU), 7-6 (12)
#2 – Maty Cancini/Ting-Pei Chang (ISU) def. Kelsey Neville/Maria Tatarnikova (Drake), 6-2
#3 – Chie Kezuka/Margarita Timakova (ISU) def. Carmen Palumbo/Megan Webb (Drake), 6-3
Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 4, 5, 1, 6, 3)
#1 – Petushkova (Drake) def. Cancini (ISU), 7-5, 4-2 ret.
#2 – Naklo (ISU) def. Tatarnikova (Drake), 6-0, 6-1
#3 – Hsieh (ISU) def. Lomas (Drake), 6-2, 7-5
#4 – Chang (ISU) def. Neville (Drake), 6-2, 6-3
#5 – Kezuka (ISU) def. Daria Walczak (Drake), 6-2, 6-2
#6 –Webb (Drake) def. Timakova (ISU), 6-4, 6-3
Players Mentioned
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