DENVER, Colo. – In an extremely close dual match, No. 62 Denver narrowly beat 41st-ranked Drake University men's tennis team, 4-3, on Saturday (Feb. 21).
With the Bulldogs and the Pioneers splitting the first two doubles matches, the doubles point came down to a tiebreaker. Drake's Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) and Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) won the tiebreaker, 7-2, earning the Bulldogs the doubles point.
Drake continued its momentum in singles action as freshman Ben Stride (Bognor Regis, England) at No. 6 and senior Ravi Patel (London, England) at No. 4 took straight sets victories to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead. The Pioneers held off the Bulldogs from clinching the fourth and decisive point with three-set victory at No. 1 and then a 7-5, 7-5 win at No. 5. Denver's Diogo Rocha overcame being down a set at No. 2 to tie the team score, 3-3. The Pioneers' Alex Gasson won a three-set match at No. 3 to give Denver the match clinching point.
Drake travels to Iowa City on Friday, Feb. 27 to square off with the Iowa Hawkeyes at 6 p.m
#62 Denver Pioneers 4, #41 Drake 3
Feb 21, 2015 at Denver, Colo.
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Singles
1. CRAIG, Henry (DEN) def. Salibasic, Alen (DU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
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2. ROCHA, Diogo (DEN) def. Lott, Ben (DU) 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
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3. GASSON, Alex (DEN) def. Frost, Matt (DU) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
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4. Patel, Ravi (DU) def. JAMES, Yannik (DEN) 6-4, 6-2
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5. FOX, David (DEN) def. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) 7-5, 7-5
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6. Stride, Ben (DU) def. RUDER-HOOK, JESSE (DEN) 6-3, 7-5
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Doubles
1. FOX, David/GASSON, Alex (DEN) def. Lott, Ben/Philips, Bayo (DU) 6-4
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2. Frost, Matt/Patel, Ravi (DU) def. JAMES, Yannik/ROCHA, Diogo (DEN) 6-2
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3. Salibasic, Alen/Mullis, Ben (DU) def. CRAIG, Henry/RUDER-HOOK, JESSE (DEN) 7-6 (7-2)
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Match Notes
Denver Pioneers 5-4; National ranking #62
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Drake: 10-3; National ranking #41
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,4,1,5,2,3)
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