DES MOINES, IOWA - The feeling was bittersweet for Drake men's tennis senior Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel) as his come-from-behind 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 triumph over Austin Doerner of DePaul at the top singles position on Sunday (March 1) moved him into a tie atop the all-time Bulldog victory list, but in the end it was enough to lift his team to a win as the Blue Demons registered a 4-3 decision.

Zirkin battled back from a 3-0 deficit in the third set to collect the 206th win in his illustrious career, a triumph that moved him into a first-place tie with Robert Novotny (1993-97) and Dalibor Pavic (2004-08).

Drake's inability to capture the doubles point again doomed its chances for triumph as the single tally meant the difference between victory and defeat.

The match was the first in the newly rechristened Roger Knapp Tennis Center that was renamed in a pre-match ceremony in honor of former Des Moines native Roger Knapp, who served as the Bulldogs' men's tennis coach from 1989 to 1994.

Drake's record falls to 3-8 overall, while DePaul improves to 10-2.

“We won a lot of the battles today but in the end we couldn't win the match,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges commented.  “The doubles point was the difference in the match and we had opportunities to win it but we couldn't get it done.”

The two sides split the first two doubles contests at the Nos. 1 and 3 positions to turn attention to the No. 2 doubles court.  The tandem of junior Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and senior Ricardo Lau (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) appeared poised to secure the double tally for the Bulldogs as the duo held a 6-5 advantage over Matija Palinic and Bartosz Jozwiak.  Unfortunately, DePaul rallied back to take the next three games to secure the match and the doubles point, 8-6.

The Blue Demons extended the margin to 2-0 in singles play with a victory at No. 4.

Senior Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) cut the deficit in half, 2-1, with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph against Alasdair Graetz at the fifth singles slot.

DePaul sealed the decision in the affair registering victories at the Nos. 5 and 2 singles positions.

Zirkin and sophomore Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) added the final two wins in the Drake column.  Ballivian posted a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory versus Ben Hartman at the No. 3 slot.

The Bulldogs open up Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday (March 4) as the Drake visits Creighton for a 12:30 p.m. tilt.  Zirkin will have his first opportunity to move past Novotny and Pavic atop the all-time victory list at Drake with a win over the Bluejays.

DEPAUL (10-2) DEF. NO. 71 DRAKE (3-8), 4-3
MARCH 1, 2009
ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER ? DES MOINES, IOWA

SINGLES:
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Austin Doerner (DEP), 6-1, 4-6, 6-4
No. 2 Jose Moncada (DEP) def. Evgeny Silitski (DU), 6-4, 7-6 (5)
No. 3 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Ben Hartman (DEP), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
No. 4 Bartosz Jozwiak (DEP) def. Guilherme Marsiglia (DU), 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Alasdair Graetz (DEP), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Vanja Grgec (DEP) def. Ricardo Lau (DU), 6-4, 6-4
Order of finish (4,5,6,2,1,3)

DOUBLES:
No. 1 No. 41 Hartman/Doerner (DEP) def. Zirkin/Silitski (DU), 8-4
No. 2 Palinic/Jozwiak (DEP) def. Lau/Marsiglia (DU), 8-6
No. 3 Mendoza/Ballivian (DU) def. Moncada/Graetz (DEP), 8-5
Order of finish (1,3,2)