FEBRUARY 4, 2012

DES MOINES, Iowa - The 70th-rated Drake men's tennis team opened its home campaign with a 7-0 victory past Western Illinois in the first of two matches on the day on Saturday (Feb. 4) for the Bulldogs at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

Drake was decisive in sweeping the Leathernecks in the doubles competition with the tandem of senior Cesar Bracho (Luque, Paraguay) and sophomore Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) registering the doubles point with an 8-3 decision at No. 1 over Patrick Hammers and Mandela Shepard.

The bottom of the lineup provided the Bulldogs with some immediate spark in singles action as freshmen Grant Tesmer (Lincoln, Neb.) and Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) posted wins at the Nos. 6 and 5 positions, respectively, to give Drake a 3-0 lead.

Tesmer posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory versus Dan Sweeney, while Mullis bested Andrew Yopp by an identical 6-0, 6-0 score.

Clinching the match for the Bulldogs was junior Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia), downing Shepard at No. 2, 6-3, 6-2.

Drake also garnered triumphs in the affair from Salibasic, senior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid, Israel) and sophomore Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) at the Nos. 1, 4 and 3 positions, respectively.

NO. 70 DRAKE (3-1) DEF. WESTERN ILLINOIS (0-2), 7-0

FEBRUARY 4, 2012 • ROGER KNAPP TENNIS CENTER

SINGLES:

No. 1 Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Patrick Hammers (WIU), 6-4, 6-1

No. 2 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Mandela Shepard (WIU), 6-3, 6-2

No. 3 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Ben Yue (WIU), 6-0, 7-6 (3)

No. 4 Jonathan Hadash (DU) def. Jim Capalbo (WIU), 6-0, 6-2

No. 5 Ben Mullis (DU) def. Andrew Yopp (WIU), 6-0, 6-0

No. 6 Grant Tesmer (DU) def. Dan Sweeney (WIU), 6-0, 6-0

Order of finish: (6,5,2,1,4,3)

DOUBLES:

No. 1 Cesar Bracho/Salibasic (DU) def. Hammers/Shepard (WIU), 8-3

No. 2 Goodman/Mullis (DU) def. Capalbo/Yue (WIU), 8-4

No. 3 Erasmus/Sean O'Grady (DU) def. Justin Liss/Yopp (WIU), 8-1

Order of finish: (3,1,2)