DES MOINES, IOWA - Bouncing back after a rough stretch of matches the 71st-rated Drake men's tennis team earned a 6-1 victory over Graceland on Tuesday (Feb. 24) to snap the Bulldogs' three-match losing streak.

Drake handed the Yellowjackets their first loss of the season to drop Graceland to 4-1, while the Bulldogs improved their ledger to 3-6.

“We needed a win tonight and got it,” Drake head coach Chase Hodges commented.  “It was not pretty, but we will take it.  We look forward to playing a tough Iowa team tomorrow.”

The Bulldogs earned decisions at the Nos. 1 and 3 doubles positions to collect the doubles point.  An 8-6 victory by the tandem of junior Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and freshman Evgeny Silitski (Minsk, Belarus) over Thomas Brodbeck and Remy Caffardo sealed the tally and sent Drake into singles action with a 1-0 advantage.

Marsiglia pushed the score to 2-0 after dispatching of Brodbeck at the fourth singles hole, 6-0, 6-0.

Senior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) stretched the advantage to 3-0 following a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Daniel Ramirez at the No. 5 hole before sophomore Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) clinched the triumph with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Carlos Cordova at No. 3.

Senior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) added a pair of victories in the affair to move within one win of equaling Dalibor Pavic (2004-08) and Robert Novotny (1993-97) atop the all-time Drake victory list at 206.

Rounding out the win total for the Bulldogs was Silitski, who withstood a third-set super tie-breaker, 15-13, to post a 2-6, 6-2, 15-13 decision versus Brett Waite at the second singles slot. 

Earning a victory in doubles at the No. 3 hole with Zirkin was sophomore Konrad Kamizelich (Chicago, Ill.).

The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday (Feb. 25) as Drake battles in-state rival No. 58 Iowa in Iowa City beginning at 6:00 p.m.

NO. 71 DRAKE (3-6) DEF. GRACELAND (4-1), 6-1
FEB. 24, 2009
DRAKE TENNIS CENTER ? DES MOINES, IOWA

SINGLES:
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Remy Caffardo (GU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Evgeny Silitski (DU) def. Brett Waite (GU), 2-6, 6-2, 15-13
No. 3 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Carlos Cordova (GU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 4 Guilherme Marsiglia (DU) def. Thomas Brodbeck (GU), 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Daniel Ramirez (GU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Matthew Waite (GU) def. Konrad Kamizelich (DU), 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish (4,5,3,6,1,2)

DOUBLES:
No. 1 Marsiglia/Silitski (DU) def. Brodbeck/Caffardo (GU), 8-6
No. 2 Cordova/B. Waite (GU) def. Mendoza/Ballivian (DU), 8-6
No. 3 Konrad Kamizelich/Zirkin (DU) def. M. Waite/Ramirez (GU), 8-4
Order of finish (3,1,2)