DES MOINES, Iowa – The 36th-ranked Drake University men's tennis team held on for a 4-2 victory over No. 65 Cornell on Sunday at the Roger Knapp Center.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead as Scotland natives Vinny Gillespie and Calum MacGeoch cruised to a 6-1 victory at No. 2 doubles and Bayo Philips and Ben Stride clinched the doubles point with a 6-1 win of their own at No. 3.
MacGeoch extended is singles winning streak to seven matches with a dominating 6-2, 6-2 performance over Benardo Casares at the No. 4 spot and put Drake up 2-0.
Cornell evened the match up at two with wins on courts two and six.
The Big Red had the Bulldogs on the ropes with a set lead and a game away from wins on courts one and three.
Senior Ben Lott managed to overcome a 5-1 second set deficit, forcing a third set with a 7-4 tiebreaker win and took some pressure from underclassmen Gillespie and Stride.
After taking the first set 6-2, Stride dropped the second set 6-2, but regained his composure and rolled past Stefan Vinti in the third set, winning 6-2 at No. 5, putting Drake up 3-2.
While Lott was making his comeback, Gillespie was also trying to keep the Bulldogs hopes alive as he overcame a 5-3 second set deficit, forcing a third set with a 8-6 tiebreaker victory of his own. Gillespie used his momentum from the second set and never gave Chris Vrabel a chance in the third, winning the decisive set 6-3 and securing the match for the Bulldogs.
With the win over Cornell, Drake improves to 8-0 at home and earned its seventh win over a ranked opponent this season.
The Bulldogs hosts Brown and No. 55 Wisconsin on March 11 and March 13, respectively.
#36 Drake 4, #65 Cornell 2
Mar 06, 2016 at Des Moines, Iowa (Roger Knapp Tennis Center)
Singles competition |
1. Lott, Ben (DU) vs. Volfson, David (CORNELL) 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 0-1, unfinished |
2. Sinclair, Colin (CORNELL) def. Philips, Bayo (DU) 6-4, 6-2 |
3. Gillespie, Vinny (DU) def. Vrabel, Chris (CORNELL) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 |
4. MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Casares, Benardo (CORNELL) 6-2, 6-2 |
5. Stride, Ben (DU) def. Vinti, Stefan (CORNELL) 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 |
6. Lozic, Karlo (CORNELL) def. Hands, Tom (DU) 6-2, 6-4 |
Doubles competition |
1. Lott, Ben/Wood, Ben (DU) vs. Casares, Benardo/Vrabel, Chris (CORNELL) 3-4, unfinished |
2. Gillespie, Vinny/MacGeoch, Calum (DU) def. Sinclair, Colin/Volfson, David (CORNELL) 6-1 |
3. Philips, Bayo/Stride, Ben (DU) def. Vinti, Stefan/Brown, Dylan (CORNELL) 6-1 |
Match Notes |
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,2,6,5,3) |
