DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's tennis improved to 3-0 in Summit League play as the Bulldogs topped the defending league champions Denver, 5-2, Sunday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The doubles point came down to just a few points with the Bulldogs coming out on top.
Ben Wood and
Finley Hall defeated Denver's Jorge Nunez and Mattia Ros 6-3 at No. 2 doubles, while the other two matches went into tiebreakers. The Pioneers took court No. 1, while juniors
Tom Hands and
Ben Clark edged Denver's Pedro Fernandez Del Valle and Eric Morris, 7-3 in the tiebreaker to give Drake the ever-important doubles point.
"The guys came out with high energy and took the doubles point. The doubles point could have gone either way with two matches going into tiebreakers," said Drake head coach
Davidson Kozlowski."It was a very hard fought doubles point and set the tone and got our guys reenergized for singles."
Drake's
Vinny Gillespie put Drake up 2-0 with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 1 singles.
The Pioneers managed to get on the board with a victory on court No. 6.
Hands pushed Drake's lead to 3-1 as he earned a straight set win at No. 2, while Clark clinched the Bulldog victory after breaking Nunez for the 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 4 singles.
The Bulldogs travel to Minnesota on Friday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. and then squares off against Penn on Saturday to close out the weekend.
Drake 5, Denver 2
Feb 18, 2018 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center)
| Singles competition |
| 1. #120 Vinny Gillespie (DU) def. Mattia Ros (DEN) 6-3, 6-2 |
| 2. Tom Hands (DU) def. Eric Morris (DEN) 6-3, 7-6 (7-6) |
| 3. Matt Summers (DEN) def. Barny Thorold (DU) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 4. Ben Clark (DU) def. Jorge Nunez (DEN) 6-3, 6-4 |
| 5. Finley Hall (DU) def. Pedro F. Del Valle (DEN) 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 6. Ignatius Castelino (DEN) def. Freddie Powell (DU) 6-4, 6-2 |
| Match Notes |
| Drake 10-4, 3-0 (Summit) |
| Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (1,6,2,4,5,6) |
