DES MOINES, IOWA - A historic run in Drake men's tennis history came to
a close on Saturday (April 3) as the Bulldogs suffered their first home
Missouri Valley Conference loss since April 13, 2003 in dropping a 5-2 decision
to Wichita State at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The setback also snapped Drake's
23-match regular season conference winning streak that dated back to the 2006
campaign.
"Overall, this was a tough loss
today," Bulldog head coach Jimmy Borendame commented. "We
competed hard in some spots but not in all. As a team, we are still learning and understanding how to use
momentum and intensity in key moments in the matches. We have a great opportunity to keep working on this against
Saint Louis on Friday."
As has been the pattern in four of
the last five encounters, the Shockers earned the doubles point, this year on
the strength of sweeping all three doubles matches.
Wichita State then collected
victories at the Nos. 5, 6 and finally 3 positions to clinch the affair.
The Bulldogs garnered points in
the contest from junior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) and freshman Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) on the Nos. 1 and 4 courts,
respectively.
Registering his 11th consecutive
singles triumph was Erasmus, who bettered Adrian Chermaci, 6-2, 6-1.
Notching a three-set victory at
No. 1 was Ballivian, who bested Sven Kasper, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.
Drake
returns to action on Friday (April 9) as the Bulldogs host Saint Louis at 2:30
p.m. at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
WICHITA STATE (10-7, 2-0 MVC) DEF. DRAKE (11-7, 1-1 MVC), 5-2
APRIL 3, 2010 - DES MOINES, IOWA
ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER
SINGLES:
No. 1 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def.
Sven Kasper (WSU), 6-3, 4-6, 10-8
No. 2 Vlad Marinescu (WSU) def
Guilherme Marsiglia (DU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Valetin Mihai (WSU) def. James McKie (DU), 6-3, 7-6 (1)
No. 4 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Adrian
Chermaci (WSU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 David Cavalcanti (WSU) def. Jonathan Hadash (DU), 6-2, 6-2
No. 6 Matheus Pereira (WSU) def.
Ryan Drake (DU), 6-1, 6-2
Order of finish (5,6,3,2,4,1)
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Kasper/Mihai (WSU) def. Hadash/Marsiglia
(DU), 8-4
No. 2 Chermaci/Marinescu (WSU)
def. Ballivian/Erasmus (DU), 8-5
No. 3 Cavalcanti/Pereira (WSU)
def. Drake/McKie (DU), 8-4
Order of finish (3,2,1)