DES MOINES, IOWA ? Drake completed a weekend sweep as the 51st-rated Bulldogs downed Saint Louis in men's tennis play, 6-1, on Sunday (Feb. 3) at the Drake Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs improved their ledger to 4-0 on the campaign en route to extending their home-court winning streak to 38 consecutive matches and overall regular season skein to 24 straight. The loss snapped a two-match winning streak for the Billikens, who stand at 2-3 overall.
“We're 4-0 now and we gained some momentum this weekend heading into a big test at Minnesota next week,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges said. “Today was another nice victory and hopefully we can play well against the Golden Gophers.”
Drake again interchanged its doubles lineup looking to strengthen its position as the season moves forward and once again were rewarded as the Bulldogs swept all three contests.
Freshman Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and junior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) improved to 4-1 this spring with an 8-5 decision at the top doubles slot over Paul Feder and Felipe Acosta.
Sophomore Bokang Setshogo (Gaborone, Botswana) and junior Ricardo Lau (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) followed suit with an 8-3 victory versus Sean McManus and P.J. Hendrie at No. 2.
At the third slot, junior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) and sophomore Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Algre, Brazil) were leading 6-3 when the Saint Louis duo of Sam McSpadden and Marcus Fadul were forced to retire due to an injury to Fadul.
The Bulldogs turned in a strong day in singles play as Drake winning five of six contests, with the lone setback coming in three sets at No. 3.
Battling illness, Zirkin netted a 6-3, 6-2, triumph against Acosta at the No. 1 position.
Improving to 4-1 on the year was Setshogo, who collected a 6-0, 6-2, victory versus McSpadden at the fourth hole.
“I played very well today as I came out strong with confidence and everything fell into place for myself and the team,” Setshogo said.
Lau was tested at the No. 2 hole, but responded with a 6-0, 7-5, win against Hendrie.
Adding to the victory totals were Mendoza and Marsiglia, who recorded decisions at the fifth and sixth slots, respectively.
Drake returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 10) as the Bulldogs travel to face No. 40 Minnesota at 1:00 p.m.
No. 51 Drake def. Saint Louis, 6-1
Drake Tennis Center ? Feb. 3, 2008
Records: Drake (4-0), Saint Louis (2-3)
Singles:
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Felipe Acosta (SLU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 Ricardo Lau (DU) def. P.J. Hendrie (SLU), 6-0, 7-5
No. 3 Sean McManus (SLU) def. Mauricio Ballivian (DU), 3-6, 7-6 (8-6), 10-6
No. 4 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Sam McSpadden (SLU), 6-0, 6-2
No. 5 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Matt Gordon (SLU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Guilherme Marsiglia (DU) def. Paul Feder (SLU), 7-5, 6-2
Doubles:
No. 1 Mendoza/Ballivian (DU) def. Feder/Acosta (SLU), 8-5
No. 2 Lau/Setshogo (DU) def. McManus/Hendrie (SLU), 8-3
No. 3 Marsiglia/Zirkin (DU) def. Marcus Fadul/McSpadden (SLU), 6-3, retired
