DES MOINES, IOWA - The 54th-rated Drake men's tennis team dropped a 6-1 decision to No. 62 Nebraska on Wednesday (Feb. 18) at the Drake Tennis Center.

The loss dipped the Bulldogs' record to 2-4 overall, while improving the Cornhuskers to 6-2.

“This was about as bad of a performance as I've seen,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges commented.  “Maor (Zirkin) was the lone highlight for us in singles as we had various guys simply not show up tonight.  I'm extremely disappointed in our play.  Nebraska was much better than us tonight.”

The doubles matches were competitive early in the affair before Nebraska pulled out a pair of victories at the Nos. 1 and 3 positions to secure the doubles point.  Drake garnered its lone doubles win at the second slot, where the tandem of junior Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Alegre Brazil) and freshman Evgeny Silitski (Minsk, Belarus) downed Hendrik Stahmer and Francois Van Impe, 8-4.

The Cornhuskers continued to exert their dominance in singles play winning five of the six contests.

Senior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) turned in another strong effort registering Drake's lone tally with a 6-4, 6-3 decision over 74th-rated David Bendheim at the top singles slot.  The victory was the 201st in his distinguished career.

The Bulldogs venture on the road this weekend as Drake faces a pair of contests in Minneapolis, Minn.  The Bulldogs battle Binghamton and Minnesota on Saturday (Feb. 21) and Sunday (Feb. 22), respectively.  Both matches get underway at 1:00 p.m.

NO. 62 NEBRASKA (6-2) DEF. NO. 54 DRAKE (2-4), 6-1
FEB. 18, 2009
DRAKE TENNIS CENTER ? DES MOINES, IOWA

SINGLES:
No. 1 No. 116 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. No. 74 David Bendheim (NU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Calin Paar (NU) def. Mauricio Ballivian (DU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Christopher Aumueller (NU) def. Evgeny Silitski (DU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 4 Hendrik Stahmer (NU) def. Guilherme Marsiglia (DU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Francois Van Impe (NU) def. Ricardo Lau (DU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 6 Benedikt Lindheim (NU) def. Ivan Mendoza (DU), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish (6,5,1,3,4,2)

DOUBLES:
No. 1 No. 17 Bendheim/Paar (NU) def. Mendoza/Ballivian (DU), 8-6
No. 2 Marsiglia/Silitski (DU) def. Stahmer/Van Impe (NU), 8-4
No. 3 Aumueller/Lindheim (NU) def. Lau/Zirkin (DU), 8-5
Order of Finish (2,1,3)