TULSA, Okla. – The Drake University men's tennis team (16-10, 4-1) clinched their second-consecutive berth in the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 victory over No. 1 seed Denver in the Summit League title match this afternoon.
Drake started the day by earning the doubles point with wins by their top two tandems. The Bulldogs then secured their championship win in singles play as
Reid Jarvis opened with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the No. 6 position.
Olle Sonesson Lidholt then capped the crown chase with a comeback win in the No. 5 spot.
"Another epic match between Drake and Denver…it's never easy," Drake head coach
Davidson Kozlowski said after the title match victory. "This is our fourth Summit League Tournament title since we joined five years ag and three of those have come over Denver after falling to them in the regular season. We learn everything we can from those regular season matches to make adjustments, prepare, and go after the ultimate prize."
"Amazing effort from Olle Sonesson," Kozlowski added, "Who didn't play in last year championship or in the regular season match, but we loved what he was doing the past few weeks and put the racquet in his hands and he came through with the clinching doubles court and the championship clinching singles point."
Drake 4, Denver 1
No. 1 Doubles:
Matija Matic/Reid Jarvis defeated Sallay/Sriniketh (6-3)
No. 2 Doubles:
Oliver Johansson/
Olle Sonesson Lidholt defeated Arbizu/Papajcik (6-4)
No. 3 Doubles: Cuesta/Olsen defeated
Jeremy Schifris/
Evan Fragistas (6-3)
No. 1 Singles:
Jeremy Schifris vs. Arbizu (6-3, 4-6, 4-5, unfinished)
No. 2 Singles:
Cuesta def. Matija Matic (7-5, 6-3)
No. 3 Singles:
Oliver Johansson def. Olsen (6-2, 3-6, 6-4)
No. 4 Singles:
Evan Fragistas vs. Sallay (6-3, 6-7[7-9], 3-3, unfinished)
No. 5 Singles:
Olee Sonesson Lidholt def. Miller (5-7, 6-2, 6-3)
No. 6 Singles:
Reid Jarvis def. Sriniketh (6-2, 6-3)
With wins in their respective conference tournament championships, both Drake men and women have qualified for the NCAA Championships in the same season for the first time in Bulldog history. The Bulldog men have now reached the NCAA tournament 14 times in program history.
The Bulldogs now await their assignment in the NCAA tournament. Drake's fate will be streamed as part of the NCAA Selection Show on NCAA.com on Monday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. The first two rounds of of the NCAA Championships will be played on campus sites between May 5-7.
