Charleston, S.C. ? Despite a surprising win at No. 2 doubles, The Citadel was unable to record their first victory over a ranked opponent this season as South Carolina’s Bulldogs dropped a 7-0 decision to No. 45 Drake Monday afternoon at the Earle Tennis Center. The sweep is just the second for the Cadets this year and the first since Jan. 20.
Drake (13-2, 0-0 Missouri Valley) added to their 12-match winning streak and the Des Moines, Iowa-based Bulldogs have not lost a match since Feb. 4 when they dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 32 Minnesota. Meanwhile, the military Bulldogs of The Citadel (2-11, 0-2 Southern) extends their losing streak to eight.
Drake’s No. 3 doubles team of Ivan Mendoza and Sergi Vila cruised to an 8-1 victory to start off doubles play before Dalibor Pavic and Maor Zirkin recorded their 17th doubles victory of the season with an upset 8-5 win over The Citadel’s 52nd-ranked team of Daniel Dossetor and James Eason. The Dossetor/Eason tandem are now 19-7 on the year and still searching for their elusive 20th win.
Despite already clinching the doubles point, play was not over as The Citadel’s Alberto Diaz and Derek Jose recorded their second win on the year over a Guilherme Marsiglia and Bokang Setshogo team that entered Monday’s action with a 5-1 record. Diaz and Jose’s win at No. 2 doubles is just their second victory of the year as the team is now 2-8 overall, 1-2 in dual match play.
The Drake Bulldogs continued to roll in singles play as Mendoza topped Frederic Petrilli at No. 6 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Drake took the 3-0 lead over The Citadel as Setshogo recorded a quick 6-2, 6-2 win over Jose at No. 5 singles. Drake put the match out of reach for The Citadel as Zirkin handed Eason a 6-3, 6-3 loss at No. 2 singles.
Despite being down in the first set 5-2, Dossetor battled back to a 6-5 deficit at No. 1 singles, but Vila was able to escape with the 7-5 first frame victory before pulling away for a 6-2 win in the second set to clinch the top singles match. In another close first set, Drake’s Pavic edged Diaz at No. 3 singles, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, giving Drake the 6-0 lead.
Marsiglia closed out the match at No. 4 singles in a battle with The Citadel’s Martin King in a trio of 6-2 scored sets. Marsiglia won the first set before King battled back to take the second. King went up 1-0 in the third set as he rode his momentum before Marisglia rallied for the third set victory, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2.
Drake now heads to Wilmington, N.C. to face Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) on March 20 before facing the host UNC Wilmington Seahawks on March 21. The Citadel returns to conference action on Wednesday, March 21 to face No. 43 Elon (13-2, 4-0 SoCon) at the Earle Tennis Center. First serve is set for 2 p.m.