DES MOINES, IOWA ? Fresh off its best ranking in school history, the 33rd-rated Drake men's tennis team posted a 7-0 victory over Gustavus Adolphus on Sunday (March 9) at the Drake Tennis Center.
The win pushed the Bulldogs to 12-0 on the campaign, while extending their national-best 34 match regular season winning streak and 43 match home-court skein. The loss snapped a 13-match winning streak for the Gusties, who fall to 13-2 overall.
“This was a solid win over Gustavus Adolphus, who won the ITA Division III National Indoor team title last month,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges said. “We did a good job of taking care of business and the team is looking forward to some good outdoor tennis.”
After splitting the first two doubles contests, the Drake pair of sophomore Bokang Setshogo (Gaborone, Botswana) and junior Ricardo Lau (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) notched the doubles point with a 9-6 victory at the No. 3 position over Ben Tomasek and Nick Hansen.
Junior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) won his 10th straight singles victory as he bettered Andy Bryan, 6-0, 6-3, at the top singles slot.
Claiming his 13th consecutive singles triumph to improve to 13-1 on the year was Setshogo, who downed Tomasek at No. 5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-1.
The Bulldogs also garnered wins at the Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 6 slots courtesy of senior Dalibor Pavic (Adelaide, Australia), Lau, freshman Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and sophomore Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Alegre, Brazil).
Drake returns to the court on March 17 as the Bulldogs face the College of Charleston at 4:30 p.m. in Charleston, S.C.
No. 33 Drake def. Gustavus Adolphus, 7-0
Drake Tennis Center ? March 9, 2008
Records: Drake (12-0), Gustavus Adolphus (13-2)
Singles:
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Andy Bryan (GA), 6-0, 6-3
No. 2 No. 57 Dalibor Pavic (DU) def. John Kauss (GA), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Ricardo Lau (DU) def. Mike Burdakin (GA), 7-5, 4-6, 10-4
No. 4 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Charlie Paukert (GA), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Ben Tomasek (GA), 6-7 (5), 6-3, 10-1
No. 6 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Aaron Zenner (GA), 7-5, 6-0
Doubles:
No. 1 Pavic/Zirkin (DU) def. Bryan/Paukert (GA), 8-4
No. 2 Burdakin/Kauss (GA) def. Mendoza/Ballivian (DU), 8-4
No. 3 Lau/Setshogo (DU) def. Nick Hansen/Tomasek (GA), 8-6
