DES MOINES, Iowa - The No.
46 Drake men's tennis team opened defense of the Bulldogs' 2011 Missouri
Valley Conference crown registering a 7-0 triumph over Creighton at the Roger
Knapp Tennis Center on Saturday (March 31).
Drake swept the doubles competition to secure the only point it needed
in the affair. The tandem of
juniors Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia)
and James McKie (Edinburgh,
Scotland) netted the clinching tally as the duo downed Kyle Obermeier and Billy
Paluch at No. 1, 8-4.
In singles, McKie stretched the margin to 2-0 besting J.T. Christian at
the No. 2 position, 6-2, 6-1. Senior Jonathan Hadash (Lapid, Israel) followed adding a 6-3, 6-0 victory past Gabe
Nagy at No. 5 to extended the lead to 3-0 for the Bulldogs.
Earning the match-clinching point at No. 4 was freshman Alen Salibasic (Tuzla,
Bosnia&Herzegovina), who dispatched Sean Mathison, 6-3, 6-4.
Rounding out Drake's win total was Ghorbel, junior Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) and freshman Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) at the Nos. 1, 2 and 6
positions, respectively.
Ghorbel edged Paluch at No. 1, 6-1, 6-1, before Mullis earned a 6-3, 6-3
decision over Elliott Baker on court No. 5.
Erasmus ended the match downing J.T. Christian at the No. 2 slot, 6-2,
6-1.
The Bulldogs close out the road portion of their schedule next weekend as
Drake travels to face Bradley and Illinois State on Friday (April 6) and
Saturday (April 7), respectively.
Both matches are slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.
NO. 46 DRAKE (18-2, 1-0 MVC) DEF. CREIGHTON
(8-5, 0-1 MVC), 7-0
MARCH 31, 2012 • ROGER KNAPP
TENNIS CENTER
SINGLES:
No. 1 Anis Ghorbel (DU) def. Billy Paluch (CU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 James McKie (DU) def. J.T. Christian (CU), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Jean Erasmus (DU) def. Kyle Obermeier (CU), 6-4, 6-2
No. 4 Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Sean Mathison (CU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Jonathan Hadash (DU) def. Gabe Nagy (CU), 6-3, 6-0
No. 6 Ben Mullis (DU) def. Elliott Baker (CU), 6-3, 6-3
Order of Finish:
(2,5,4,1,6,3)
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Ghorbel/McKie (DU) def. Obermeier/Paluch (CU), 8-4
No. 2 Cesar Bracho/Salibasic (DU) def. Mathison/Ryan Norman (CU), 8-3
No. 3 Erasmus/Robin Goodman (DU) def. Baker/Christian (CU), 8-5
Order of Finish: (2,1,3)
