APRIL 23, 2011
WICHITA, Kan. - For Drake men's tennis senior Mauricio Ballivian (Santa Cruz, Bolivia) the moment
had to be especially rewarding as he capped the bookends of his collegiate
career helping the 68th-rated Bulldogs claim their fourth Missouri Valley Conference
regular season crown in the last five seasons with a 5-2 victory, their 13th straight triumph, over Wichita
State on Saturday (April 23.).
Drake already owned regular season crowns in each of
Ballivian's first two campaigns and the Bulldogs will go in search of their
fifth NCAA Tournament berth in school history at next weekend's State Farm MVC
Championship in St. Louis, Mo.
Drake will enter the tournament as the top seed and will receive a bye
into the semifinal round on Saturday (April 30).
"I'm extremely happy with our effort today in beating a very
tough Wichita State team on the road," Drake head coach Evan Austin commented. "To go undefeated in this league is a
great accomplishment. We are going
to enjoy this and come back focused and ready for the conference tournament next
weekend."
The Bulldogs swept the doubles competition with the duo of
sophomores Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) and James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) clinching the
deciding tally with the duo's 8-6 triumph over Vlad Marinescu and Valentin
Mihai at the No. 2 position.
Ballivian added his 190th career triumph at No. 1 singles,
besting Marinescu, 6-1, 6-1, to extend Drake's lead to 2-0.
The advantage swelled to within one point of victory after
sophomore Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) downed Matheus Periera at No. 2, 6-1, 6-3.
The Shockers cut into the margin earning a decision at No.
4, before Erasmus staked claimed to the MVC title for the Bulldogs defeating
David Cavalcanti at No. 3, 6-3, 6-4.
Drake also garnered a come-from-behind, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 11-9,
victory at No. 5 from freshman Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England).
The Bulldogs will now await tournament pairings to see which
of two teams it will face in the State Farm MVC Championship next Saturday
(April 30).
NO. 68 DRAKE (19-2, 5-0 MVC) DEF. WICHITA STATE (14-9,
3-2 MVC), 5-2
APRIL 23, 2011 • WICHITA, KAN.
SINGLES:
No. 1 Mauricio Ballivian (DU) def. Vlad Marinescu (WSU),
6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Matheus Periera (WSU), 6-1, 6-3
No. 3 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. David Cavalcanti (WSU), 6-3,
6-4
No. 4 Guillermo Nicol (WSU) def. James McKie (DU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Valentin Mihai (WSU), 3-6, 7-6
(5), 11-9
No. 6 Adrian Chermaci (WSU) def. Jonathan Hadash (DU), 6-1,
6-4
Order of Finish: 1,2,4,3,6,5
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Ballivian/Ghorbel (DU) def. Cavalcanti/Pereira (WSU),
8-6
No. 2 Erasmus/McKie (DU) def. Marinescu/Mihai (WSU), 8-6
No. 3 Cesar Bracho/Goodman (DU) def. Nicol/Estenssoro (WSU),
8-4
Order of Finish: 3,2,1
