DES MOINES, IOWA ? In a season full of milestones, the Drake men's tennis team added another to its resume on Sunday (April 22) as the Bulldogs captured their fourth regular season Missouri Valley Conference title and first since 2004, with a 7-0 victory over Bradley.

The win capped an impressive regular season, which has seen the Bulldogs win their last 20 matches overall and 34 in a row at home. The triumph pushed Drake's ledger to 21-2 overall, including an unblemished 6-0 mark in the MVC. The loss dropped the Braves to 5-10 and 1-5 in league competition.

“It was nice to win the regular season Missouri Valley Conference title but at the same time we know this is only one step towards reaching our goals for the season,” Drake head coach Chase Hodges said. “We're looking forward to the opportunity to defend our conference tournament title next weekend.”

The depth of the Bulldogs' line-up again proved to be the difference in the match as Drake completed its 12th shutout of the season by sweeping all three doubles and six singles contests.

The Blue and White displayed a strong effort in doubles play led by the No. 47th-ranked tandem of junior Dalibor Pavic (Adelaide, Australia) and sophomore Maor Zirkin (KIbutz Hazor, Israel) posted an undefeated MVC ledger (6-0) with their 28th victory of the season, 8-1, over Alex Roby and Wil Lofgren at No. 1 doubles.

The Bulldogs then proved to very business-like in securing victories at each of the singles positions. Drake secured the win at the conference title when freshman Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and sophomore Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) simultaneously finished their matches to provide the Blue and White with the third and deciding fourth points in the affair.

Marsiglia earned a 6-0, 6-4 decision versus Roby at No. 4, while Mendoza added a 6-0, 6-4 triumph against Richard Robertson at the sixth singles slot.

Adding another victory to his stellar Drake resume was senior Sergi Vila (Barcelona, Spain), who concluded his home career with a 6-0, 6-2 win versus Lofgren at No. 2 singles.

Also contributing wins were freshman Bokang Setshogo (Gaborone, Botswana), Pavic and Zirkin at the fifth, third and second slots, respectively.

The Bulldogs capped a regular season which their Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 singles players in Zirkin (6-0), Vila (6-0), Pavic (6-0), Setshogo (5-0) and Mendoza (5-0) post undefeated MVC marks. In doubles, the same can be said for the tandems of Pavic/Zirkin (6-0) and Setshogo/Marsiglia (4-0), who were perfect in league doubles play.

Drake awaits announcement of seeding at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships, which begins on Friday (April 27) in Omaha, Neb. The Bulldogs will be the tournament's top seed and are expected to earn a bye into the semifinals.

No. 51 Drake def. Bradley, 7-0
April 22, 2007
Des Moines, Iowa ? Drake Tennis Center
Records: Drake (21-2, 6-0 MVC), Bradley (5-10, 1-5 MVC)

Singles
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Evgeny Samoylov (BU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 Sergi Vila (DU) def. Wil Lofgren (BU), 6-0, 6-2
No. 3 Dalibor Pavic (DU) def. Ismael Rodrigo (BU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Guilherme Marsiglia (DU) def. Alex Roby (BU), 6-0, 6-4
No. 5 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Michel Macara-chvili (BU), 6-0, 6-2
No. 6 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Richard Robertson (BU), 6-0, 6-4

Doubles
No. 1 No. 47 Zirkin/Pavic (DU) def. Roby/Lofgren (BU), 8-1
No. 2 Vila/Mendoza (DU) def. Rodrigo/Samoylov (BU), 8-2
No. 3 Setshogo/Marsiglia (DU) def. Macara-chvili/Robertson (BU), 8-1