NORMAN, OKLA. - On the strength of a 4-1 mark in
singles play, the Drake men's tennis advanced four players into the second
round of the main draw at Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Central
Regional on Friday (Oct. 22).
Senior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa
Cruz, Bolivia) directed the Bulldogs' assault on the singles draw registering
a, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, victory past Mike Ward of Arkansas.
Sophomore James McKie (Edinburgh,
Scotland) also garnered a three-set triumph bettering UMKC's Nino Hasandedic, 6-4,
3-6, 6-4.
Sophomore Jean Erasmus (Windhoek,
Namibia) dispatched of J.T. Christian of Creighton, 6-1, 6-4, while freshman Robin
Goodman (Cambridge,
England) advanced following a, 7-5, 6-3, decision versus Jeff Cote of Western
Illinois.
Junior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid,
Israel) nearly made it a clean sweep for the Bulldogs but he came up on the
wrong end of a, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, verdict against Tulsa's Grant Ive.
Due to inclement
weather in the Norman area, tournament officials moved play indoors cutting
down the available courts from 18 to six.
Doubles competition in the 32-team field began late in the afternoon and
a pair of Drake tandems took advantage of their opportunity.
Ballivian and McKie
cruised to an 8-2 victory over Joe Flanagan and Bobby Kidera of Saint Louis,
while the duo of Erasmus and Goodman collected an 8-3 win against UMKC's Grant
Fleming and Hasandedic.
In the second round, Marcelo
Arevalo and Ashley Watling of Tulsa netted an 8-5 triumph over Ballivian and
McKie, while Rifat Biktyakov and Aleksey Bessonov of Oklahoma State edged
Erasmus and Goodman, 9-7
Singles competition
at the ITA event resumes on Saturday morning (Oct. 23).
ITA CENTRAL REGIONAL
OCT. 22, 2010 • NORMAN, OKLA.
SINGLES:
Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Mike Ward (ARK), 7-6
(4), 4-6, 6-3
Jean Erasmus (DU) def. J.T. Christian (CU), 6-1, 6-4
Grant Ive (TULSA) def. Jonathan Hadash (DU), 3-6, 6-4, 6-0
James McKie (DU) def. Nino Hasandedic (UMKC), 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
Robin Goodman (DU) def. Jeff Cote (WIU), 7-5, 6-3
DOUBLES:
Ballivian/McKie (DU) def. Joe Flanagan/Bobby Kidera
(SLU), 8-2
Marcelo Arevalo/Ashley Watling (TULSA) def. Ballivian/McKie
(DU), 8-5
Erasmus/Goodman (DU) def. Hasandedic/Grant Fleming
(UMKC), 8-3
Rifat Biktyakov/Aleksey Bessonov (Okla. St.) def. Erasmus/Goodman
(DU), 9-7
