Complete Results
DES MOINES, Iowa – After dropping the doubles point, the University of South Alabama men's tennis team rallied back with four singles wins to defeat No. 41 Drake on Sunday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
The Jaguars added to their three-match win streak and improved to 5-2 in their spring campaign, while the Bulldogs fell to 5-2.
The last time USA defeated a team ranked in the top 50 was in 2013 with a 4-1 victory over No. 30 BYU.
"Today was a huge accomplishment beating a really strong Drake team, at home, especially after losing the doubles point and being down 3-1 overall," said USA head coach Nick Brochu. "Our guys showed a lot of character."
With Drake being up 1-0 after doubles, Ravi Patel defeated senior Manuel Belda (Posadas, Misiones, Argentina) 6-1, 6-3 at No. 3. Faced with a 2-0 deficit, junior Tim Srkala (Brno, Czech Republic) picked up his sixth straight win when he downed Matt Frost 6-1, 6-4 in the No. 2 flight.
"Tim continued his perfect weekend with another dominating win today," said Brochu.
Ben Stride earned the final point for the Bulldogs with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory over junior Gerhard Gruindelingh (Pretoria, South Africa) on the No. 5 court.
South Alabama took the final three matches in three sets. Senior Daniel Leitner (Niederfischbach, Germany), ranked No. 113, outlasted No. 30 Ben Lott 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 at the No. 1 spot and sophomore Tuki Jacobs (Windhoek, Namibia) edged Ben Mullis 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 at No. 4.
"Daniel stayed focused even after losing the second set and being down 2-0 in the third set," said Brochu. "Tuki's game plan was good, and we knew his opponent wouldn't be able to keep up in the long run. He showed great discipline today."
Freshman Olivier Gingras (Quebec City, Quebec, Canada) clinched the match for USA with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Bayo Philips in the No. 6 flight.
"This was another important clinch by our freshman Olivier," said Brochu. "The entire match we talked about relaxing on big points and playing confident. He showed senior-level mental toughness in his third set, especially when serving for the match."
In doubles action, Drake took the point with wins at Nos. 2 and 3. Philips and Stride topped Srkala and Gingras 7-5 on the No. 3 court and Frost and Patel defeated Belda and junior Juan Troglia (Mendoza, Argentina) 6-4 at No. 2.
The Jaguars return home Feb. 10 to take on Alabama State at 1 p.m.
"We had many chances to win the doubles point, but Drake came up big," said Brochu. "Overall, this was a great win for our program. Winning a tough match like this on the road outside our usual environment, indoor, is a big achievement."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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