DES MOINES, Iowa – Elena Palioura battled through three sets in lifting SIUE women's tennis to a 4-3 road victory at Drake.

With the win, SIUE improved to 8-2, including a 4-0 mark against Missouri Valley Conference teams. SIUE now returns home for the beginning of the Ohio Valley Conference regular season, facing Tennessee State on March 14th.

"What an amazing match filled with tremendous fight and effort by this team," said SIUE Head Coach Adam Albertsen.

The Cougars fell behind early as they dropped the doubles point and retired in a singles match.

"After falling behind 2-0 quickly, it was great to see us respond immediately," Albertsen said.

Chloe Koons set the tone early in SIUE's comeback with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Drake's Elizabete Klavinska at No. 6 singles.

"Chloe has been so steady in our lineup and took care of business," said Albertsen.

Drake's Jordane Dookie responded with a 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4 singles over SIUE's Jessica Li, giving the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead.

"Paloma and Stefaniya picked up hard fought singles wins to really put the pressure back on our opponent," noted Albertsen.

Paloma Hennicaux bested Milana DeJanovic at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-2 while SIUE's Stefaniya Anikina defeated Kristina Tai 7-5, 6-3.

That left both teams watching a battle between Palioura and Shiori Takeda at No. 2 singles. Palioura took the first set 6-2, but Takeda stepped up for a 7-6 (11-9) win in the second set. Palioura then repositioned herself into the lead role, winning the final set 6-2 for the team-clinching point.

"Tied 3-3 and Elena stepped up in a huge moment," said Albertsen. "She has been playing at a high level all season and to see her clinch the match was big time."