WHAT'S AHEAD: The
49th-rated Bulldogs will close their regular season campaign with an 11:00 a.m.
match on Saturday (April 21) versus Wichita State at the Roger Knapp Tennis
Center. A victory over the Shockers gives Drake its fifth outright
Missouri Valley Conference regular season title in the last six seasons, while
a loss likely creates a tie between the Bulldogs and Wichita State for the
league's championship and the coveted No. 1 tournament seed.
A LOOK BACK: No. 49
Drake posted a 7-0 victory over Southern Illinois at the Roger Knapp Tennis
Center last Sunday (April 15).
Drake opened its day
sweeping the doubles competition with the duo of juniors Anis Ghorbel (Sfax, Tunisia) and James McKie (Edinburgh, Scotland) notching the doubles tally on the
strength of an 8-4 triumph on court No. 1.
Drake garnered
victories in rapid-fire succession on courts two, four and six, respectively,
to secure the Bulldogs' eighth-straight triumph.
First off the court
was McKie, who bested Stanislas Rodier at the No. 2 position, 6-1, 6-1.
Within seconds, junior Jean Erasmus
(Windhoek, Namibia) followed in triumph posting a 6-2, 6-1 decision at No. 4.
Almost as quick as
Erasmus had exited the court, sophomore Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) clinched the match in favor of Drake at the
No. 6 slot, by an identical 6-2, 6-1 score.
The Bulldogs also
garnered victories on courts one, three and five, respectively, to notch
Drake's 12th 7-0 win of the year, including three in MVC action.
IN OUR LAST MEETING: The
62nd-rated Bulldogs captured their fifth NCAA Tournament berth in school
history, dispatching of Wichita State, 4-0, on May 1, 2011, in the title match
of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship in St. Louis, Mo.
After falling at the No. 3 position, both of the remaining two doubles
contests were forced into a seven-point tiebreaker to decide the outcome.
The tandem of James McKie
and Jean Erasmus came
up clutch at the No. 2 slot as the duo bested Vlad Marinsecu and Guillermo
Nicol in the tiebreaker, 7-1, to earn a 9-8 (1) decision and send all attention
to the top doubles court.
With all eyes on their court, Mauricio
Ballivian and Anis Ghorbel pulled out a 7-2 triumph in the tiebreaker to corral
the doubles point, downing David Cavalcanti and Matheus Periera, 9-8 (2).
On the strength of the doubles point in its back pocket, Drake carried a
wave of momentum into singles play.
Ballivian, the 2011 MVC Player of the Year, pushed the advantage to 2-0
dispatching of Marinescu at No. 1, 6-3, 6-2. Ghorbel was equally impressive registering an identical,
6-3, 6-2, triumph over Periera at No. 2, to bring the Bulldogs to within on
point of victory.
The attention then turned to the fourth singles court where McKie was
battling Nicol. McKie came through with a 6-3, 7-5 victory to catapult Drake to
its third MVC Championship title in the last five seasons.
UP NEXT: Drake
heads to Omaha, Neb., to open competition at the State Farm MVC Championship
(April 27-29).
