APRIL 10, 2011

DES MOINES, Iowa - In what the Drake men's tennis team hopes is the first of many defining moments in its Missouri Valley Conference campaign, the 72nd-ranked Bulldogs thwarted off Illinois State's upset bid registering their 11th-straight decision downing the Redbirds, 6-1, on Sunday (April 10) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

"This was a great team win for us and the most complete match we've played this season," Drake head coach Evan Austin commented.  "We still have a lot of work left ahead of us and need to continue work hard and improve, but we're going to enjoy our effort today."

Playing in his final collegiate home match, senior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) sparked Drake's dominating performance over the defending MVC regular season champion Redbirds with a pair of triumphs, the 186th and 187th, respectively, of his distinguished career.

Ballivian and sophomore Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) established the tone of the affair with an 8-1 victory, the duo's 11th straight, past Alexander Pelaez and Timon Reichelt at the top doubles position. 

Despite holding a 7-2 advantage at No. 2 doubles, the tandem of sophomores Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) and James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) had to withstand the hard charge of Tuomas Manner and Matej Zlatkovic to hold on to record the deciding point with an 8-5 win.

In singles, Ballivian quickly dispatched of Reichelt at the top position, 6-1, 6-0, to extend the Bulldogs' advantage to 2-0.   Ballivian raised his arms in triumph after the match and kissed the No. 1 court after completing his final career home triumph as a Bulldog.

"Mauricio has been a true ambassador for this program and this is an incredible way for him to finish his home career at Drake," said Austin.

Illinois State cut the deficit to 2-1 with a victory at No. 6, before Drake rolled off four unanswered wins en route to the triumph.

Freshman Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) brought the Bulldogs to the brink of clinching the affair, downing Manner at No. 5, 6-0, 6-4.

In a tightly-contested tilt at No. 3, McKie persevered through a back-and-forth second set with Filip Miljevic to break a five-all tie and clinch the victory with a 7-5, 7-5 decision.

The Bulldogs also garnered wins at the Nos. 2 and 4 slots, respectively, from Ghorbel and Erasmus.

Drake resumes it schedule traveling to Southern Illinois next Sunday (April 17) for a 10:00 a.m. tilt with the Salukis.

NO. 72 DRAKE (17-2, 3-0 MVC) DEF. ILLINOIS STATE (12-7, 1-1 MVC), 6-1

APRIL 10, 2011 • DES MOINES, IOWA

SINGLES:

No. 1 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Timon Reichelt (ISU), 6-1, 6-0

No. 2 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Alexander Pelaez (ISU), 7-6 (5), 6-4

No. 3 James McKie (DU) def. Filip Miljevic (ISU), 7-5, 7-5

No. 4 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Matej Zlatkovic (ISU), 6-4, 6-4

No. 5 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Tuomas Manner (ISU), 6-0, 6-4

No. 6 Skip Span (ISU) def. Cesar Bracho (DU), 6-2, 6-2

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

DOUBLES:

No. 1 Ballivian/Ghorbel (DU) def. Pelaez/Reichelt (ISU), 8-1

No. 2 Erasmus/McKie (DU) def. Manner/Zlatkovic (ISU), 8-5

No. 3 Miljevic/Mya Smith-Dennis (ISU) def. Bracho/Drake (DU), 8-7 (6)

Order of Finish: 1,2,3