DES MOINES, Iowa – The No. 41 Drake University men's tennis team improved to 7-1 in dual matches this season with a pair of wins over Gonzaga and UMKC on Friday, Feb. 6, at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The Bulldogs opened day with a 7-0 win over Gonzaga (1-2) before handling UMKC (3-2), 6-1, in the nightcap.
“It was a good day, everyone played well and competed hard,” said Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski. “We got to see a few new faces out there today and that was good to get those guys some playing time and come out with two wins.”
Against Gonzaga, Drake won five of the six singles courts in straight sets with No. 3 singles providing the toughest challenge. However, Ben Stride (Bognor Regis, England) prevailed, 6-3, 6-7, and won the superset tiebreaker, 10-3. Captain Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) secured the fourth point and the match for Drake with a 6-2, 6-4, win at No. 5.
The Bulldogs began the evening match by winning the doubles point against UMKC with Bayo Philips (Houston, Texas) and Stride winning 6-3 and No. 1 and Mullis and freshman Calum MacGeoch (Edinburgh, Scotland) winning at No. 3, 6-3.
“We want to secure the doubles point and make sure we're coming out with a high level of intensity,” Kozlowski said. “We have been very strong in doubles this season and If we get the doubles point we've got a great chance to win.”
In singles action against the Kangaroos, Drake took courts Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 in straight sets with Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ravi Patel (London, England), Philips and Stride all claiming straight-set wins.
UMKC got its lone point at No. 6 with Amaury Navette defeating freshman Ben Wood (Hertfordshire, England), 2-6, 6-3 and 10-7 in the tiebreaker. At No. 5, MacGeoch handled Uldis Gaismins, 6-2, 5-7, and 10-7 in the tiebreaker.
Despite the 6-1 victory, Kozlowski stressed the need for his team to bring energy and intensity from the first serve.
“UMKC came out tonight and had more intensity initially,” Kozlowski said. “We need to reemphasize that and get the guys committed to coming out with that intensity on Sunday against a tough South Alabama team.”
The Bulldogs return to action on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. with that match against South Alabama. Later in the afternoon, the squad faces Omaha at 4 p.m. to close out the weekend's competition.
#41 Drake 7, Gonzaga 0
Feb 06, 2015 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. #46 Salibasic, Alen (DU) def. NAZAL, Alvaro (GON) 6-4, 6-0
2. Patel, Ravi (DU) def. KAMISAR, Nick (GON) 6-3, 8-6
3. Stride, Ben (DU) def. SMITH, Hayden (GON) 6-3, 6-7, 1-0 (10-3)
4. Philips, Bayo (DU) def. MIJATOVIC, Vladimir (GON) 6-4, 6-4
5. Mullis, Ben (DU) def. CHIP, Sergio (GON) 6-2, 6-4
6. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. VARAS, Vicente (GON) 6-3, 6-2
Doubles competition
1. Salibasic, Alen/Mullis, Ben (DU) vs. SMITH, Hayden/MIJATOVIC, Vladimir (GON) 5-2, unfinished
2. Stride, Ben/Philips, Bayo (DU) def. KAMISAR, Nick/NAZAL, Alvaro (GON) 6-2
3. Patel, Ravi/Wood, Ben (DU) def. CHIP, Sergio/VARAS, Vicente (GON) 6-2
Match Notes
Gonzaga 1-2
Drake 6-1
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (1,6,5,4,3,2)
#41 Drake 6, UMKC 1
Feb 06, 2015 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center)
Singles competition
1. Salibasic, Alen (DU) def. Airam Castellano (UMKC) 6-2, 6-1
2. Patel, Ravi (DU) def. Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 6-1, 6-2
3. Philips, Bayo (DU) def. Vinh Pham (UMKC) 6-1, 6-3
4. Stride, Ben (DU) def. Mike Psarros (UMKC) 6-1, 6-0
5. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Uldis Gaismins (UMKC) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)
6. Amaury Navette (UMKC) def. Wood, Ben (DU) 2-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-7)
Doubles competition
1. Philips, Bayo/Stride, Ben (DU) def. Mike Psarros/Airam Castellano (UMKC) 6-3
2. Patel, Ravi/Wood, Ben (DU) vs. Uldis Gaismins/Andrey Smirnov (UMKC) 4-4, unfinished
3. Mullis, Ben/MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Conner Edwards/Amaury Navette (UMKC) 6-3
