ELON, N.C. ? A streak was guaranteed to end and the 42nd-rated Drake men's tennis team made sure it wasn't its 35-match regular season winning streak as the Bulldogs handed No. 74 Elon a 4-2 setback on Wednesday (March 19). The Phoenix came into the affair having won its last 30 matches at Jimmy Powell Tennis Center.
Drake has now won 36 consecutive contests and improved to 14-0 with the victory, while Elon fell to 10-5 overall.
“This was a huge win for our team against a nationally-ranked squad on the road,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges said. “We had the bottom half of our line-up step up today, especially Mauricio (Ballivian), who you have to give a lot of credit for stepping up and getting it done.”
Due to impending rainstorms in North Carolina, the three doubles matches were scratched with the outcome of the match to be decided solely on singles play.
Trailing in the contest 2-1, after the Bulldogs dropped decisions at the first and third singles positions, sophomore Bokang Setshogo (Gaborone, Botswana) squared the tilt at two with a 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 5 over Philip Nemec.
Junior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) stretched the margin to 3-2 with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph against Chase Helpingstine at No. 6.
The outcome of the affair then swung to the No. 4 court where freshman Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) was battling Alberto Rojas. Ballavian dropped the first set, 6-3, before rallying to take the second and deciding frames, 6-2, 6-4, respectively to secure the victory for Drake.
Senior Dalibor Pavic (Adelaide, Australia) accounted for the Bulldogs' other win as he downed Oscar Podlewski, 6-4, 6-4 at the No. 2 position.
The Bulldogs return to the court on Friday (March 21) as Drake faces East Carolina at 12:00 p.m.
No. 42 Drake def. No. 74 Elon, 4-2
Elon, N.C. ? March 19, 2008
Records: Drake (14-0), Elon (10-5)
Singles:
No. 1 Damon Gooch (ELON) def. Maor Zirkin (DU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 No. 64 Dalibor Pavic (DU) def. Oscar Podlewski (ELON), 6-4, 6-4
No. 3 Mason Schermerhorn (ELON) def. Ricardo Lau (DU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Alberto Rojas, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Philip Nemec (ELON), 6-4, 6-4
No. 6 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Chase Helpingstine (ELON), 6-4, 6-3
