BLOOMINGTON, IND. - The Drake men's tennis team extended its winning streak to three straight matches to open the campaign on the strength of a 5-2 victory over Central Florida (2-3) on Saturday (Feb. 12).

After dropping their initial doubles contest at No. 1, the Bulldogs rallied back with wins at the bottom two slots to secure the doubles point.  Sealing that tally was the tandem of sophomore Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) and junior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid, Israel) at No. 3, 8-4, over Jean Romano and Mitch Thams.

Drake extended its lead to 3-0 in singles earning decisions at the third and fourth positions, respectively.

Erasmus downed Leonel Vivas at No. 3, 6-3, 6-2, before sophomore Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) bested Erik Brunskog at No. 4, 6-2, 6-4.

The Knights cut the margin to 3-1 with a victory at No. 5 before freshman Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) clinched the match for the Bulldogs on the strength of his, 7-6 (5), 6-1, triumph versus Thams on court No. 6.

Senior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) rounded out the win total for Drake with a three-set victory, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (1), against Blaze Schwartz at No. 1.

The Bulldogs close out their weekend in the Hoosier State with an encounter versus Butler on Sunday (Feb. 13) at 12:00 p.m.

DRAKE (3-0) DEF. CENTRAL FLORIDA (2-3), 5-2

FEB. 12, 2011 • BLOOMINGTON, IND.

SINGLES:

No. 1 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Blaze Schwartz (UCF), 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (1)

No. 2 Claudio Romano (UCF) def. James McKie (DU), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4

No. 3 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Leonel Vivas (UCF), 6-3, 6-2

No. 4 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Erik Brunskog (UCF), 6-2, 6-4

No. 5 Joe Delinks (UCF) def. Jonathan Hadash (DU), 6-4, 6-4

No. 6 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Mitch Thams (UCF), 7-6 (5), 6-1

Order of Finish: 3,4,5,6,1,2

DOUBLES:

No. 1 Schwartz/Delinks (UCF) def. Ballivian/Ghorbel (DU), 8-5

No. 2 McKie/Goodman (DU) def. Brunskog/Dolgovykh (UCF), 8-5

No. 3 Erasmus/Hadash (DU) def. Romano/Thams (UCF), 8-4

Order of Finish: 1,2,3