A quartet of Peacocks represented the Upper Iowa women's tennis team this past weekend in Des Moines, Iowa at the Drake Invitational. Upper Iowa's
Charalampia Grammatikaki,
Varvara Ogorodnikova,
Jessa Michieli, and
Lina Ziani competed from Sep. 10-12 in singles and doubles matches across the three-day tournament hosted by the Bulldogs.
The Peacocks competed in Flights 2, 3, and 4 of singles competition and Flights 3 and 4 of doubles competition as they played in all three days of the Drake Invite. Freshman
Charalampia Grammatikaki picked up three straight singles victories and won the back draw of Flight 2. Sophomore
Jessa Michieli claimed a win in her singles match on Saturday. Sophomores
Varvara Ogorodnikova and
Lina Ziani were unable to pick up wins in their singles play, but they competed hard against the tough Division I opponents.
Player Spotlight... Charalampia Grammatikaki - Fr. | Athens, Greece
3-1 record in singles play over the weekend. Won in straight sets in each of her three wins, including two clinching wins in the tiebreaker of the second set. Rebounded to win the back draw of Flight 2 after dropping her opening match.
"Charalampia played a great tournament. After dropping her first round match, she won three straight matches against really strong opponent D1 opponents and won the back draw for flight 2. Charalampia showed great patience and understanding of the game, and she was able to adjust well to each opponent. It is a great way to start the season for her and I am looking forward to see her continue to improve week after week." - Head Coach, Léo Millet
Coach's Quote... "I am really proud of the players this weekend. They played strong competition every match and showed great fight and determination. Though we did not win any doubles matches during the tournament, we played well overall and improved each day. We need to improve on finishing points better and trusting our offensive shots a little more. In singles, we picked up a total of four victories and had some more strong play against tough competition. Everyone played well in singles and even though some matches did not go our way, almost every match was extremely competitive from start to finish. We're looking forward to using this experience and momentum to get better and move into the season." - Head Coach, Léo Millet
Up Next... The Peacocks are scheduled to compete four more times this fall before turning the calendar over and competing in the spring. UIU's next time on the court will be against Winona State University on Friday, Oct. 1 in Winona, Minn.
Friday Results...
Singles Competition:
Kmoskova (USD) def. Grammatikaki (UIU) 6-1, 6-1
Covington (UNO) def. Ogorodnikova (UIU) 6-1, 6-0
Granson (AUGIE) def. Michieli (UIU) 6-2, 6-2
Marija Bukina (USD) def. Ziani (UIU) 6-2, 6-1
Doubles Competition:
Haagensen/Stepan (DRAKE) def. Michieli/Grammatikaki (UIU) 8-3
Bukina/Almiron (USD) def. Ogorodnikova/Ziani (UIU) 8-1
Saturday Results...
Singles Competition:
Grammatikaki (UIU) def. Tiemeyer (UNO) 6-1, 6-3
Grammatikaki (UIU) def. Havlickova (USD) 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Almiron (USD) def. Ogorodnikova (UIU) 6-4, 6-3
Michieli (UIU) def. Linscott (UNO) 6-1, 6-1
Varma (USD) def. Michieli (UIU) 6-3, 6-3
Rizza (UNDW) def. Ziani (UIU) 6-2, 6-1
Sunday Results...
Singles Competition:
Grammatikaki (UIU) def. Stephani (DRAKE) 6-1, 7-6 (7-2)
Skobkareva (USD) def. Ogorodnikova (UIU) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles Competition:
Skobkareva/Girbau (USD) def. Michieli/Grammatikaki (UIU) 8-3
