DES MOINES, IOWA - The Drake men's tennis team registered its sixth-consecutive victory to clinch at least a share of its third straight regular season Missouri Valley Conference title on the strength of its 7-0 decision over Illinois State on Sunday (April 12) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

The Bulldogs (12-9, 5-0 MVC) will now look to claim the outright MVC crown when Drake travels to Wichita State for an 11:00 a.m. showdown on Saturday (April 18). The loss dropped the Redbirds to 7-10, including 2-2 in league action.

“We played extremely well today and were able to clinch at least a share of the regular season conference title,” Bulldog head coach Chase Hodges commented.  “I'm very proud of the team for beating a solid Illinois State team.  We're looking forward to playing Wichita State on Saturday."

In the final home matches of their careers, Drake seniors Maor Zirkin (Kibutz Hazor, Israel), Ivan Mendoza (Wellington, New Zealand) and Ricardo Lau (Tecugigalpa, Honduras) each collected wins to close out their home resume having never lost at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center to a league school.

“Our three seniors closed out phenomenal careers today,” Hodges said.  “Maor (Zirkin), Ivan (Mendoza) and Ricardo (Lau) all won on their senior day and they all played great tennis.  It was a great ending today to their careers."

The Bulldogs took control of the match from the start taking the first two doubles contests to assume a lead they didn't relinquish.  Clinching the doubles point was the tandem of Zirkin and freshman Cesar Bracho (Luque, Paraguay), who bettered Skip Span and Filip Miljevic, 8-3, at the top slot.

Adding two more tallies to Drake's scoring column was junior Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto Algre, Brazil) and Bracho at the Nos. 5 and 3 positions, respectively.  Marsiglia crafted a 6-3, 6-2 decision versus Daniel Tobar, while Bracho posted a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Miljevic.

Fittingly, a senior clinched the win for the Bulldogs as Mendoza dealt Michael Hobson a 6-3, 6-3 setback at No. 4.

Rounding out the win total for Drake was Lau, Zirkin and sophomore Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia).

DRAKE (12-9, 5-0 MVC) DEF. ILLINOIS STATE (7-10, 2-2 MVC), 7-0
APRIL 12, 2009
ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER ? DES MOINES, IOWA

SINGLES:
No. 1 Maor Zirkin (DU) def. Skip Span (ILS), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Timon Reichelt (ILS), 7-5, 6-1
No. 3 Cesar Bracho (DU) def. Filip Miljevic (ILS), 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 Ivan Mendoza (DU) def. Michael Hobson (ILS), 6-3, 6-3
No. 5 Guilherme Marsiglia (DU) def. Daniel Tobar (ILS), 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 Ricardo Lau (DU) def. Xavier Riart-Ferrer (ILS), 6-4, 6-1
Order of finish (5,3,4,6,1,2)

DOUBLES:
No. 1 Zirkin/Bracho (DU) def. Span/Miljevic (ILS), 8-3
No. 2 Hobson/Reichelt (ILS) def. Ballivian/Mendoza (DU), 8-7 (8)
No. 3 Marsiglia/Lau (DU) def. Micah LeMoine/Tobar (ILS), 8-4
Order of finish (3,1,2)