SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Drake men's tennis team notched its biggest victory of the season capturing the championship of the Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic on Saturday (March 22) with a 4-1 victory over No. 28 Harvard (10-5).
The Bulldogs (14-5) knocked off their highest-ranked opponent of the year to avenge a 4-2 setback to the Crimson in the finale of the 2013 Hilton San Diego Mission Valley Spring Classic.
“Another great team effort from the boys today,” Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski commented. “We have been struggling with the doubles this tournament, but we remained confident in our play and were able to gain the early advantage by winning the doubles point against Harvard. That set the tone for the match and we quickly raced out to a 3-1 lead.”
The Bulldogs stole the early momentum in the affair earning the doubles point with victories on the Nos. 1 and 3 courts, respectively.
Arguably the bigger of those two triumphs was delivered by the No. 1 doubles tandem of senior Robin Goodman (Cambridge, England) and sophomore Ben Lott (Newcastle, England), who clinched the doubles tally for Drake with an 8-5 win over the sixth-ranked duo of Denis Nguyen and Casey MacMaster.
The doubles point might not have been attainable for the Bulldogs if the tandem of juniors Matt Frost (Cambridge England) and Ravi Patel (London, England) had not earned an 8-7 (4) decision past Sebastian Beltrame and Christo Schultz at the No. 3 position.
Harvard opened singles evening the affair at one after 37th-ranked Nguyen dealt junior Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) a 6-2, 6-0 setback at the top spot.
Lott pushed the Bulldogs back into the lead for good downing 103rd-rated Beltrame on the No. 2 court, 6-2, 6-3.
Goodman extended Drake's advantage to 3-1 dispatching Shaun Chaudhuri at the No. 3 position, 6-3, 6-1.
The remaining three matches in the tilt all went to a deciding third sets, with the Bulldogs maintaining leads on the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 courts, respectively.
It was Frost that overcame dropping the first set in his match with Brian Yeung at No. 4, 6-7 (4), to capture the match-clinching point, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2.
Patel and junior Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) lead their respective contests at the Nos. 5 and 6 slots when the deciding tally was earned.
“Harvard battled back and forced three setters on the remaining three courts, but we showed the same resiliency we displayed against Princeton and Memphis and quickly gained control of each set with Matt (Frost) racing out to clinch at 6-2 in the third,” said Kozlowski. “It was especially sweet for us after having lost to Harvard in the finals last year.”
Drake returns to action hosting No. 74 St. John's and Southern Illinois at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center on April 4.
NO. 43 DRAKE (14-5) DEF. NO. 28 HARVARD (10-5), 4-1
MARCH 22, 2014 • SAN DIEGO, CALIF.
SINGLES:
No. 1 No. 37 Denis Nguyen (HU) def. Alen Salibasic (DU), 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 Ben Lott (DU) def. No. 103 Sebastian Beltrame (HU), 6-2, 6-3
No. 3 Robin Goodman (DU) def. Shaun Chaudhuri (HU), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 Matt Frost (DU) def. Brian Yeung (HU), 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 Ravi Patel (DU) leading Alex Steinroeder (HU), 6-3, 5-7, 3-0 unfinished
No. 6 Ben Mullis (DU) leading Andrew Ball (HU), 6-4, 6-7 (1), 3-1 unfinished
Order of Finish: 1,2,3,4
DOUBLES:
No. 1 Goodman/Lott (DU) def. No. 6 Nguyen/Casey MacMaster (HU), 8-5
No. 2 Steinroeder/Yeung (HU) def. Mullis/Salibasic (DU), 8-4
No. 3 Frost/Patel (DU) def. Beltrame/Christo Schultz (HU), 8-7 (4)
Order of Finish: 2,3,1
