PHILADELPHIA, Pa.—Villanova (1-5) tallied its first dual-match victory of the season with a 5-2 win over Drexel (2-9) at the Vidas Courts on Sunday morning. A strong team effort saw the Wildcats win the doubles point to start the match before going on to capture four of the six singles matches. Senior Annalise Klopfer (Palm Harbor, Fla.) and freshman Valieriia Kornieva (Dnipro, Ukraine) led the way for Villanova with victories in both their singles and doubles matches.
 
Klopfer and freshman Emma Brogan (Kennesaw, Ga.) combined for a 6-4 win over Lorie Lemongo and Mya Fuentes at No. 1 doubles, while Kornieva and senior Sabina Grigorian (Atlanta, Ga.) were similar 6-4 winners at No. 2 doubles with a victory over Pauline Kharkover and Cristina Corte González. Those two decisions gave the Wildcats an early 1-0 lead in the team score and they went on to post four singles wins in straight sets.
 
The No. 1 singles match between Klopfer and Lemongo was a close one which Klopfer won by set scores of 6-3 and 6-4. The other three wins for Villanova came in the lower half of the lineup from sophomore Bella Steffen (Cary, N.C.), Kornieva and junior Amanda Rivera-Gonzalez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico). Kornieva won for the second time on the day with a 6-1, 6-2 decision against Corte González at No. 5 singles. Steffen defeated Fuentes (6-4, 6-4) in the No. 4 singles match and Rivera-Gonzalez was a 6-1, 6-4 winner against Aida Garcia Mendez at No. 6 singles.
 
Villanova was playing for the first time in 17 days since a Spring Break trip to Nashville. The team will be back to a regular playing schedule in the coming weeks, beginning with a home match against Temple this Wednesday afternoon.