CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The 35^th-ranked Drake University men's tennis topped No. 50 Indiana, 4-2, on Sunday afternoon on the final day of the ITA Kickoff Weekend.

For the third-straight match the Bulldogs secured the pivotal doubles point.

"Today's doubles was huge with Ben Lott and Calum MacGeoch saving four match points before winning in a tiebreaker. The energy from Calum and the poise from Ben made the difference," Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski said. "Honestly, that really helped us further move on from yesterday's loss. It showed everyone on our team that we were going to compete until the final ball was struck."

Freshman Tom Hands gave Drake a 2-0 advantage with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Elliot Yee at No. 6.

But the Hoosiers managed to tie the match up at two after wins at No. 1 and No. 5.

Sophomore Bayo Philips came back from dropping the first set 6-1 to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-4 and put the Bulldogs a point away from winning the match.

Freshman Vinny Gillespie secured the match clinching point with a three-set 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory at No. 3.

"The boys took advantage of this opportunity and really helped each other through another hard fought match. We learned and were inspired by yesterday to stay the course and finished with confidence today," said Kozlowski.

The Bulldogs' schedule doesn't get any easier as they travel to 41^st-ranked Dartmouth and 32^nd-ranked Harvard on Jan. 30 and Jan. 31, respectively.

#35 Drake 4, #50 Indiana 2
Jan 24, 2016 at Chapel Hill, N.C. (Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center) 

Singles competition

1. #27 Sam Monette (IU) def. Lott, Ben (DU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-4)

2. Philips, Bayo (DU) def. Dan Bednarczyk (IU) 1-6, 6-3, 6-4

3. Gillespie, Vinny (DU) def. Raheel Manji (IU) 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

4. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) vs. Antonio Cembellin (IU) 7-5, 3-6, unfinished

5. Matt McCoy (IU) def. Clark, Ben (DU) 6-4, 6-4

6. Hands, Tom (DU) def. Elliot Yee (IU) 6-4, 6-2

 

Doubles competition

1. Philips, Bayo/Gillespie, Vinny (DU) def. Sam Monette/Dan Bednarczyk (IU) 6-3

2. Lott, Ben/MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Stefan Lugonjic/Chris Essick (IU) 7-6 (7-4)

3. Raheel Manji/Afonso Salgado (IU) def. Stride, Ben/Clark, Ben (DU) 6-3

 

Match Notes

Indiana 0-2; National ranking #50

Drake 2-1; National ranking #35

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (6,1,5,2,3)