DES MOINES, IOWA ? Led by senior Dalibor Pavic (Adelaide, Australia), the No. 51 Drake men's tennis team registered its 30th consecutive regular season victory with a 6-1 decision over Illinois at Chicago (UIC) on Friday (Feb. 22) at the Drake Tennis Center.

The win extended the Bulldogs' home-court winning streak to 39 straight matches and kept Drake a perfect 8-0 on the campaign. The loss dropped the Flames to 2-6 overall.

“The guys got it done tonight as they did what was needed to get the victory,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges said. “It is always nice to win the doubles point and I thought Dado (Pavic) played exceptionally well tonight and we feel good heading into a difficult test versus DePaul tomorrow.”

Drake had to work every point in doubles play as the doubles point came down to the top court, where the duo of Pavic and junior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) bettered the Flames' tandem of Sebastian Lystad and Bastian Harbo, 8-4.

Pavic stretched the margin in singles action to 2-0 with a 6-2, 6-3, triumph over Lystad at the No. 1 position.

The lead swelled to 3-0 after sophomore Bokang Setshogo (Gaborone, Botswana) handed Danny Wilson a 6-3, 6-1 setback at No. 5.

Junior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) sealed Drake's national-best 28th straight regular season victory with a 6-2, 6-1 decision against Tim O'Brien at the sixth singles hole.

The Bulldogs also garnered wins at the second and fourth positions from Zirkin and freshman Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia), respectively.

Drake faces a stiff challenge on Saturday (Feb. 23) as the Bulldogs host DePaul (6-4) at Noon in the Drake Tennis Center.

No. 51 Drake def. UIC, 6-1
Drake Tennis Center ? Feb. 22, 2008
Records: Drake (8-0), UIC (2-6)

Singles:
No. 1 No. 47 Dalibor Pavic (DU) def. Sebastian Lystad (UIC), 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Bastian Harbo (UIC), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 Adriano Liccardo (UIC) def. Ricardo Lau (DU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Eric Fey (UIC), 7-6 (9), 6-2
No. 5 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Danny Wilson (UIC), 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Tim O'Brien (UIC), 6-2, 6-1

Doubles:
No. 1 Pavic/Zirkin (DU) def. Harbo/Lystad (UIC), 8-4
No. 2 Liccardo/Fey (UIC) def. Lau/Setshogo (DU), 8-4
No. 3 Ivan Mendoza/Ballivian (DU) def. Wilson/Sean Kreymborg (UIC), 8-3