JANUARY 22, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - Setting the stage for what it hopes is another Missouri Valley Conference title this spring, the Drake men's tennis captured a school-record tying eight titles on the final day of the State Farm MVC Individuals on Sunday (Jan. 22) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

Competition kicked off with all three of the Bulldog's doubles teams winning their respective semifinal matches to advance to the championship round.

The tandem of sophomore Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) and freshman Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) earned the Bulldogs' first title dispatching of Illinois State's Jordan Badenko and Willi Peter, 8-3, at No. 2.

The duo of junior Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) and senior Cesar Bracho (Luque, Paraguay) then added a second championship at No. 3 besting Juan Estenssoro and Nestor Perez of Wichita State, 8-4.  It was the second doubles crown for Ghorbel after pairing with Mauricio Ballivian to win the No. 1 doubles title in 2011.

Senior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid, Israel) collected Drake's third title at No. 6 singles downing Bradley's Eric Nguyen, 6-3, 6-3.

Junior James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) then won his second career championship registering a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Skip Span of Illinois State at No. 3.  McKie had previously claimed a title at the No. 5 position as a freshman in 2010.

Junior Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) also pulled in his second career crown dealing Tuomas Manner of Illinois State a 6-3, 6-0 setback at the No. 2 slot.

Goodman followed by adding his second title of the day downing Illinois State's Peter, 6-3, 6-2 at the No. 5 position.

On the strength of rallying to win a first-set tiebreaker, Salibasic staked claim to his second championship of the day defeating Tomislav Gregurovic from Wichita State at No. 4 singles, 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Rounding out the victory parade to help the Bulldogs sweep the top-six titles was Ghorbel.  The 51st-rated player in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, Ghorbel wrapped up the competition edging Alex Pelaez of Illinois State, 7-6 (6), 6-0 in the top singles draw.

Drake returns to action on Friday (Jan. 27) as the Bulldogs travel to Cambridge, Mass., to compete in the four-team Harvard Invitational (Jan. 27-28).  Drake will battle No. 68 DePaul, Denver and No. 70 Harvard in the two-day event.

STATE FARM MVC INDIVIDUALS

JANUARY 22, 2012 • ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER

SINGLES

No. 1 No. 51 Anis Ghorbel def. Alex Pelaez (ILST), 7-6 (6), 6-0

No. 2 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Tuomas Manner (ILST), 6-3, 6-0

No. 3 James McKie (DU) def. Skip Span (ILST), 6-2, 6-1

No. 4 Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Tomislav Gregurovic (WSU), 7-6 (3), 6-4

No. 5 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Willi Peter (ILST), 6-3, 6-2

No. 6 Jonathan Hadash (DU) def. Eric Nguyen (BU), 6-3, 6-3

DOUBLES

No. 1 Erasmus/McKie (DU) def. David Cavalcanti/Matheus Pereira (WSU), 8-6

No. 1 Manner/Pelaez (ILST) def. Erasmus/McKie (DU), 8-6

No. 2 Goodman/Salibasic (DU) def. Eric Nguyen/Hamish Weerasinghe (BU), 8-6

No. 2 Goodman/Salibasic (DU) def. Jordan Badenko/Willi Peter (ILST), 8-3

No. 3 Cesar Bracho/Ghorbel (DU) def. Szymon Opieczonek/Orhan Spahic (SIU), 8-6

No. 3 Cesar Bracho/Ghorbel (DU) def. Juan Estenssoro/Nestor Perez (WSU), 8-4