DES MOINES, IOWA - Becoming only the second Drake men's tennis player to achieve 200 career victories, senior Dalibor Pavic (Adelaide, Australia) recorded his 199th and 200th wins as a Bulldog to spark Drake to a 6-1 triumph over Southern Illinois on Saturday (April 12) at the Drake Tennis Center.
The win propelled the Bulldogs to their 42nd straight regular season victory and a 20-0 mark, including 4-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. The loss dropped the Salukis to 7-11 overall and 0-3 in league action.
“Southern Illinois is a quality opponent and to get a 6-1 victory is impressive,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges said. “We look forward to a very tough test from Indiana State on Sunday.”
The story in Drake's 45th consecutive home decision was Pavic, who netted his 200th career victory with a 6-1, 6-2 triumph versus Lucas Waked at the top singles holes. He has moved to within seven wins of surpassing Robert Novotny's (1993-97) school record of 206 victories.
“To reach 200 wins is a great accomplishment and it makes the goal of becoming Drake's all-time wins leader more of a reality,” Pavic said. “The ultimate goal will be to attempt to surpass Novotny, I'm close, but there is still work to be done.”
Pavic played a role in helping Drake secure the doubles point as his 8-6 victory with junior Maor Zirkin (KIbutz Hazor, Israel) over Waked and Anton Leonenko at the top slot provided the Bulldogs with a 1-0 advantage.
Junior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) extended the margin to 2-0 with his ninth straight singles triumph bettering Chase Miller at No. 6, 6-1, 6-2.
The lead swelled to 3-0 on the strength of sophomore Bokang Setshogo's (Gaborone, Botswana) 6-4, 6-1 victory against Sebastian Rubiano at the fifth spot. The win was the 20th in a row for Setshogo, who improved to 20-1 on the year.
Netting the winning point in the affair was Zirkin, who notched a 6-2, 6-1 decision versus Hugo Vidal at No. 2.
Drake also garnered victories at the Nos. 1 and 4 positions from Pavic and freshman Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia).
Ballivian downed Leonenko, 7-5, 6-1 at the fourth slot for his 11th consecutive win.
The Bulldogs close out their weekend set hosting Indiana State on Sunday (April 13). Match time is slated for 11:00 a.m.
No. 43 Drake def. Southern Illinois, 6-1
Drake Tennis Center ? April 12, 2008
Records: Drake (20-0, 4-0 MVC), Southern Illinois (7-11, 0-3 MVC)
Singles:
No. 1 No. 68 Dalibor Pavic (DU) def. Lucas Waked (SIU), 6-1, 6-2
No. 2 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Hugo Vidal (SIU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Mariano Restrepo (SIU) def. Ricardo Lau (DU), 6-3, 7-6 (2)
No. 4 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Anton Leonenko (SIU), 7-5, 6-1
No. 5 Bokang Setshogo (DU) def. Sebastian Rubiano (SIU), 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Chase Miller (SIU), 6-1, 6-2
Doubles:
No. 1 Pavic/Zirkin def. Waked/Leonenko (SIU), 8-6
No. 2 Ballivian/Mendoza (DU) def. Restrepo/Rubiano (SIU), 8-4
No. 3 Setshogo/Lau (DU) def. Miller/Vidal (SIU), 8-5
