FEBRUARY 29, 2012
DES MOINES, Iowa - The 43rd-ranked Drake men's tennis claimed
in-state bragging rights for another year after dispatching of Iowa, 7-0, on
Wednesday (Feb. 29) at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center, to record the Bulldogs'
10th-consecutive victory.
Doubles proved to be a knock-down
affair as the two sides exchanged points en route to splitting decisions at the
top-two positions.
The Hawkeye' duo of Garret Dunn
and Michael Swank registered the upset of the 31st-rated tandem of senior Cesar Bracho (Luque, Paraguay) and
freshman Alen Salibasic (Tuzla,
Bosnia & Herzegovina) at No. 1, 8-6.
On court No. 2, juniors Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) and James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland)
bested Jonas Dierckx and Matt Hagan by an identical 8-6 score.
The showdown at No. 3 then took
center stage as the Iowa duo of Chase Tomlins and Will Vasos rallied to force
the tiebreaker to decide the doubles tally. The two sides split the first six points before junior Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) and
sophomore Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England)
scored two unanswered and four of the last five points to secure a 7-4 triumph in the tiebreaker and a 9-8(4) decision in the match.
In singles, Goodman pushed
Drake's advantage to 2-0 beating Tomlins at No. 5, 6-1, 6-3.
Placing the Bulldogs within a
point of victory at No. 2 was McKie, who downed Dierckx, 6-1, 6-2.
Persevering to win his first-set
tiebreaker, 7-1, freshman Ben Mullis
(Leicestershire, England) clinched the match for Drake registering a 7-6 (1),
6-0 triumph against Mitch Berkert at the No. 6 position.
After winning his first set, 6-2,
82nd-ranked Ghorbel was faced with the task of rallying back in the second
frame of his tilt with Hagan at the top spot in order to secure the Bulldogs' fifth point. The second set
went to a tiebreaker with Hagan seemingly in control, before Ghorbel came back
to claim a 11-9 decision, to win the match, 6-1, 7-6 (9).
Erasmus added a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
victory at No. 3 before Salibasic completed the sweep rallying from a 4-2
third-set tiebreaker deficit to claim a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) triumph on court No.
4.
Drake closes out its homestand on
Friday (March 2) hosting Saint Louis in a 12:00 p.m. tilt at the
Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
NO. 43 DRAKE (11-1) DEF. IOWA (1-7), 7-0
FEBRUARY 29, 2012 - ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER
SINGLES:
No. 1 No. 82 Anis Ghorbel (DU)
def. Matt Hagan (IOWA), 6-2, 7-6 (9)
No. 2 James McKie (DU) def. Jonas
Dierckx (IOWA), 6-1, 6-2
No. 3 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Will
Vasos (IOWA), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Garret
Dunn (IOWA), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
No. 5 Robin Goodman (DU) def.
Chase Tomlins (IOWA), 6-1, 6-3
No. 6 Ben Mullis (DU) def. Mitch
Berkert (IOWA), 7-6 (1), 6-0
Order of finish: (5,2,6,1,3,4)
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Dunn/Michael Swank (IOWA)
def. No. 31 Cesar Bracho/Salibasic (DU), 8-6
No. 2 Ghorbel/McKie (DU) def.
Dierckx/Hagan (IOWA), 8-6
No. 3 Erasmus/Goodman (DU) def.
Tomlins/Vasos (IOWA), 9-8 (4)
Order of finish: (1,2,3)
