MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The 27th-ranked Drake men's tennis squad added another monumental
victory in program history on Saturday (March 2) as the Bulldogs knocked off
No. 14 Washington, 4-3, to extend their winning streak to 13 straight.
"This was a tremendous
weekend for the Drake Men's Tennis program earning great victories over
Minnesota and Washington," Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski commented.
"One of our goals this season was to achieve the highest ranking in
school history and we reached that this week.
Another was to beat Minnesota and the guys did that as well this weekend. To beat a team of Washington's caliber after
losing the doubles point is extremely difficult and I couldn't be prouder of
the guy's effort."
The outlook looked
challenging for the Bulldogs after the Huskies claimed wins at the top-two
doubles positions to assume a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia and
Herzegovina) evened the affair at one after opening singles action with a 6-1,
6-2 triumph past Emmett Egger at the No. 4 hole.
In a battle of
national-ranked foes on the Nos. 1 and 2 courts, Washington proved victorious
at both positions to regain a 3-1 lead.
The Bulldogs were not
daunted by the deficit as senior Jean
Erasmus (Windhoek, Namibia) brought Drake to within one, 3-2, after
registering a 6-1, 6-4 win versus Viktor Farkas at the No. 5 slot.
Junior Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England)
netted the equalizer on the No. 3 court after downing Max Manthou in three
sets, 6-0, 5-7, 6-4.
In a bit of pre-match
strategy Kozlowski inserted freshman Ben
Lott (Newcastle, England) into the singles lineup at the No. 6 position.
After dropping his
initial set against Jeff Hawke, Lott rallied back to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
triumph to give the Bulldogs the victory.
"I made a pre-match
decision to place Ben (Lott) into the singles lineup and I felt the pressure
placing a young freshman in that situation where the match could come down to
him," said Kozlowski. "For him to come
up with a three-set win that clinches the match, my satisfaction could not be
higher. I'm thrilled for him and what
this can do for his confidence. I just
had a gut feeling that he would come up big indoors with his serve and huge
backhand and he used both to come up big in the match."
Washington is the
highest-ranked opponent Drake has knocked off in school history.
The Bulldogs return
to action on March 17 as Drake travels to Orlando, Fla., for a 2:00 p.m. match
versus Stetson.
NO. 27 DRAKE (13-1) DEF. NO. 14 WASHINGTON (9-5), 4-3
MARCH 2, 2013 • MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
SINGLES:
No. 1 No. 19 Kyle
McMorrow (UW) def. No. 49 Anis Ghorbel (DU), 6-2, 6-4.
No. 2 No. 116 Marton
Bots (UW) def. No. 96 James McKie (DU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 Robin Goodman
(DU) def. Max Manthou (UW), 6-0, 5-7, 6-4
No. 4 No. 121 Alen
Salibasic (DU) def. Emmett Egger (UW), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 Jean Erasmus
(DU) def. Viktor Farkas (UW), 6-1, 6-4
No. 6 Ben Lott (DU)
def. Jeff Hawke (UW), 3-6, 6-2, 7-5
Order of finish: 4,1,2,5,3,6
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Egger/McMorrow
(UW) def. Erasmus/Salibasic (DU), 8-2
No. 2 Hudson
Barnhart/Manthou (UW) def. Lott/McKie (DU), 8-6
No. 3 Ghorbel/Goodman
(DU) def. Bots/Hawke (UW), 8-5
Order of finish: 1,3,2
