The UNI women’s tennis team traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Invite, which lasted from Sept. 9-11. The Panthers performed well, highlighted by Andrijana Brkic earning the Flight B title.

Brkic began on Friday with a sweep of her opponent, winning her two sets 6-1 and 7-5. She then picked up an 8-4 win, followed by an 8-3 win that got her to the championship. In the championship, Brkic toppled Rebecca Ehn of Drake, winning 6-3 and 6-0 to claim the singles Flight B title.

Several other players had notable singles performances. Darta Dalecka and Issa Sullivan joined Brkic with wins on day one. Dalecka swept her opponent to advance in Flight A, and Sullivan came back to win in Flight C after dropping the first set. However, both lost their next matchup. Dalecka lost once more in the consolation round to be eliminated. However, Sullivan advanced to the third-place consolation match. Another UNI player, Lasya Mylavarapu, received a bye in the first round, lost her first game 8-3, but then won 8-3 to advance to the third-place consolation match of Flight C. Since the two players were teammates, they did not play out the third-place game. Thaissa Moreira and Lorena Cardoso also played. Moreira, playing in Flight B, lost her first match in sets of 6-3 and 6-3 and her second match 8-2. Cardoso, playing in Flight A, lost her first match in sets of 7-5 and 6-4 and her second match 8-2.

In doubles play, all three UNI duos played in the third-place game. In Flight A, Dalecka and Cardoso won their first match 8-6 but lost their second match 8-5 to fall to the third-place round. They fell in sets of 7-6 and 11-9, finishing fourth place.

The duo in Flight B, Brkic and Moreira, got bronze. They started off with an 8-5 loss, but bounced back with an 8-5 win to get to the consolation match. They then won 6-2.

The duo in Flight C, Sullivan and Mylavarapu, finished in fourth place. They won 8-6 in the first round, then lost 8-2 to drop to the third-place game. They lost 6-2 in the bronze game.

After a strong performance featuring a singles gold, a doubles bronze and a matchup for a singles bronze between two UNI players, the Panthers will look to carry that momentum into a matchup at Minnesota Sept. 16-18.