DES MOINES, Iowa - Drake men's tennis went 1-1 in its Sunday duelings against Old Dominion and Luther at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The Bulldogs began the day with a 7-0 loss to Old Dominion but quickly rebounded to beat Luther 7-0 just a few hours later.
"Tough day for the team," head coach
Ben Lott said. "Not being at full strength due to illness put us in a difficult starting position. Full credit to Old Dominion, they were sharper in the big moments and fully deserved their win. The team responded well in our evening match against Luther College, and were professional in taking care of business. We will continue to develop as a group, and once back to full strength, I have every confidence we will succeed in our goals for this Season."
Old Dominion 7, Drake 0
Drake was tasked with competing against the Sun Belt Conference Champions, Old Dominion. The Monarchs proved they are once again a dangerous team in 2024 with their 7-0 rout of Drake.
The Bulldogs dropped the doubles point but didn't go down without a fight.
Matija Matic and
Oliver Johansson secured a 6-3 victory over Old Dominion brothers Codie Van Schalkwyk and Connor Van Schalkwyk. The Van Schalkwyk brothers were ranked six in the ITA top-35 doubles rankings, making the win impressive for the undefeated Bulldog duo. The two other Drake duos lost to their Old Dominion opponents.
Matt Clegg and
Ben Johnson lost 6-3 to Cosme Rolland De Ravel and Jakob Cadonau, a duo that was ranked 33 in the ITA doubles rankings.
Jeremy Schifris and
Olle Sonesson Lidholt also lost 6-3.
The Bulldogs went on to lose all six singles matches against the Old Dominion Monarchs. Schifris and
Markus Bolin stretched their matches to three sets. Schifris won the first set against Codie Van Schalkwyk 6-3, then dropped the second match 7-6 in a tiebreaker set. The third set went into a tiebreaker that ended with Schifris losing 10-4. Bolin lost his first set 6-1 but battled back to win the second set 7-6 in a 7-5 tiebreaker. Bolin dropped the third tiebreaker set 10-7.
Drake 7, Luther 0
The Bulldogs came back with authority, defeating Luther College 7-0.
Drake kicked off the match with a clean doubles sweep. Clegg and Bolin defeated Max Loen and Luke Westholder 6-3 in the top doubles matchup, Johnson and
Aaron Dawson swept their opponents 6-0 and the tandem of Sonesson Lidholt and Ecklund dominated their Luther opponent 6-1.
The Bulldogs continued their stellar play into singles, where they won all six matches, sweeping Luther. Clegg, Bolin, Sonesson Lidholt, Johnson, Dawson and Ecklund all won in straight sets. Sonesson Lidholt, returning from injury, was the headliner for Drake, as he won both of his matches 6-2.
Results vs. Old Dominion
Results vs. Luther
