MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.
- A
come-from-behind three-set singles victory from senior
Jean Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) sparked the
27th-rated Drake men's tennis team to a dramatic 4-3 victory over No. 66
Minnesota on Friday (March 1).
The win was the 12th
straight for the Bulldogs and provided Drake its initial triumph past the
Golden Gophers since an identical 4-3 victory during the 2008 campaign.
Drake head coach Davidson
Kozlowski mixed up
the doubles rotation and the results paid off as the Bulldogs stole the early
momentum in the affair securing the doubles point with wins at the Nos. 2 and 3
slots.
Clinching the tally
on the No. 2 court was the tandem of freshman Ben Lott (Newcastle, England) and senior James
McKie (Edinburgh,
Scotland), who bettered Rok Bonin and Juan Pablo Ramirez, 8-4.
Junior Robin
Goodman (Cambridge,
England) kicked off singles for Drake besting Jack Hamburg at the No. 3
position, 6-3, 6-2, to extend the Bulldogs' lead to 2-0.
Minnesota erased the
deficit on the strength of consecutive triumphs at the Nos. 1, 2 and 6 positions to assume
a 3-2 lead.
After dropping his
first set versus Mathieu Froment on the No. 4 court, sophomore Alen
Salibasic (Tuzla,
Bosnia and Herzegovina) began Drake's comeback staging a 1-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3
victory to square the affair at three. The win was even more impressive for Salibasic as he faced match point, down 5-2 in the second set, including 15-40 in the game, before staving off eight match points to claim the set in the tiebreaker.
Erasmus also fell in
his initial set, 6-2, against Ramirez at No. 5, but displaying the
fortitude of a senior he claimed the next two frames, including 7-6 (1) in the
second set, to garner the win, 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4.
The victory was the
third of the season versus a Big Ten Conference school for Drake after posting
earlier wins over Nebraska and Iowa.
The Bulldogs return
to action battling No. 14 Washington on Saturday (March 2). Match time is slated for 2:00 p.m.
NO. 27 DRAKE
(12-1) DEF. MINNESOTA (3-7), 4-3
MARCH 1, 2013 •
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
SINGLES:
No. 1 No. 48 Rok
Bonin (MINN) def. No. 49 Anis Ghorbel (DU), 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
No. 2 No. 94 Leandro
Toledo (MINN) def. No. 96 James
McKie (DU), 7-5, 2-6, 6-1
No. 3 Robin Goodman
(DU) def. Jack Hamburg (MINN), 6-3, 6-2
No. 4 No. 121 Alen
Salibasic (DU) def. Mathieu Froment (MINN), 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 5 Jean Erasmus
(DU) def. Juan Pablo Ramirez (MINN), 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4
No. 6 Ruben Weber
(MINN) def. Ben Mullis (DU), 7-6 (5), 6-3
Order of finish: 3,2,6,1,4,5
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Froment/Hamburg
(MINN) def. Erasmus/Salibasic (DU), 8-5
No. 2 Ben Lott/McKie
(DU) def. Bonin/Ramirez (MINN), 8-4
No. 3 Ghorbel/Goodman
(DU) def. Frueh/Toledo (MINN), 8
Order of finish: 3,1,2