DES MOINES, Iowa – The Omaha men's tennis team was swept by #41 Drake University on Sunday evening in Des Moines, Iowa.  The Mavericks are now 2-5 overall, while the Bulldogs improve to 8-2.

“It's a great opportunity to play a team the caliber of Drake,” commented head coach Tyson Thomas.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead as they claimed the doubles point.  Omaha's Erik Anderson and Ignace Warson lost to Ravi Patel and Matt Frost at number two doubles, 6-1.  John Ellis and Marko Minic lost to Calum MacGeoch and Ben Wood in back-and-forth match at number three doubles, 6-3.  The number one doubles match featuring Colin Buckley and Nate Greteman went unfinished, as the match was abandoned after the doubles point had been secured.

“We played some very solid doubles today,” said Thomas.  “Our number one team was only down a break before the match was abandoned.”

In singles action, Ellis lost to Ben Stride at number three singles, 6-1, 6-0.  Buckley played a tough match against Patel before falling, 6-2, 6-0.  Anderson lost a tight match at number two singles, 6-2, 6-2.

At number four singles, Minic played a solid first set against Ben Mullis before dropping the match, 6-3, 6-0.  After being shut out in the first set, Warson took MacGeoch deep into the second set before falling, 6-0, 7-5.  Nathan Greteman came up just short against Wood at number six singles, 6-4, 6-3.

“Nathan and Ignace showed some significant improvement today during their singles match,” Thomas said.

The coach was proud of his team's performance against the nationally rated Bulldogs.  “It's going to be easy to build off all the positives from this match,” commented Thomas.

Omaha returns to the court on Saturday, February 14 against Hastings College.  The match is set to start at 3:00 p.m. at Miracle Hill Tennis Center.