DES MOINES, IOWA - A pair of come-from-behind
three-set victories highlighted a 5-2 triumph by the Drake men's tennis team
over Memphis on Sunday (Feb. 7) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs jumped
to an early 1-0 advantage on the strength of a sweep of doubles.
The lead swelled to
2-0 following a 6-3, 6-0 triumph by junior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) over Charlie
Ramsey at the top singles hole.
The Tigers rolled off
two unanswered wins to square the affair at two after triumphs at the Nos. 4
and 6 positions.
Senior Guilherme Marsiglia (Porto
Algre, Brazil) extended the margin in favor of Drake, 3-2, following a 7-6 (5),
6-1 victory past Michael Janz at No. 3.
The outcome of the
match then came down to a pair of third-set tiebreakers involving freshmen James McKie (Edinburgh,
Scotland) and Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) on the Nos. 2 and 5 courts.
McKie clinched the
triumph for the Bulldogs with a dramatic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win over Leon Nasemann.
"Gui (Marsiglia)
played amazing today coming through for this team both in singles and doubles,"
Drake head coach Jimmy Borendame commented. "In
singles, he was battling injuries and fought through the pain to win and I am
very proud of the entire team for a great win over a very good Memphis team."
The final match to be
decided occurred on court No. 5 where Erasmus claimed a second-set tiebreaker
against Michael Gaerthoeffner before taking the deciding frame, 6-0, to give
Drake the triumph.
"Our freshmen (James McKie and Jean Erasmus) showed great poise after losing their first sets,"
Borendame said. "They are two very
mentally tough young men."
Drake opens a
three-match road swing traveling to Denver, Colo., to face BYU and Denver on
Saturday (Feb. 13) and Sunday (Feb. 14), respectively. Match time against the
Cougars is slated for 7:00 p.m., while the tilt with the Pioneers commences at
1:00 p.m.
DRAKE (2-0) VS.
MEMPHIS (1-4), 5-2
FEB. 7, 2010 •
ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER (DES MOINES, IOWA)
SINGLES:
No. 1 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Charlie Ramsey (MEM), 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 James McKie
(DU) def. Leon Nasemann (MEM), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Guilherme Marsiglia (DU) def. David Henry (MEM), 7-6 (5), 6-1
No. 4 Michael Janz
(MEM) def. Jonathan Hadash (DU), 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 Jean Erasmus
(DU) def. Michael Gaerthoeffner (MEM), 0-6, 7-6 (3), 6-0
No. 6 vs. John Taylor
(MEM) def. Ryan King (DU), 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish
(1,4,6,3,2,5)
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Ballivian/McKie
(DU) def. Jordan Smith/Henry (MEM), 8-3
No. 2
Erasmus/Marsiglia (DU) def. Nasemann/Taylor (MEM), 8-5
No. 3 Drake/Hadash
(DU) def. Spencer Heflin/Ramsay (MEM), 8-3
Order of finish
(1,3,2)
