No. 42 Dartmouth Comes From Behind to Defeat No. 37 Drake

Saturday, January 30

Hanover, N.H.

11:00 AM

Dartmouth College

Drake

No. 42 Dartmouth Comes From Behind to Defeat No. 37 Drake

1/30/2016 6:26:00 PM | Men's Tennis

By: Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – After ending doubles play trailing by a point, the No. 42 Dartmouth men's tennis team won five of the first six singles sets to defeat No. 37 Drake, 4-3, at the Boss Tennis Center on Saturday.

The Big Green improved to 4-1 on the season, while the Bulldogs fell to 2-1.

“This was a terrific college tennis match, a true battle in every sense of the word,” head coach Chris Drake said. “I'm very proud of the way our team bounced back after losing a close doubles point to win five of the six first sets in singles. There were numerous swings in momentum throughout the match, and the way we responded each time is something we can build on in our upcoming matches.

“Drake is a good team with a ton of experience in these types of matches, so to pull out a victory today is something the guys can feel good about,” Drake continued. “Obviously, Tannenbaum finding a way to come back from 0-4 in the third set of the deciding match by raising his level and believing in his game speaks volumes to the kind of people we have on this team.”

At No. 3 doubles, junior George Wall and sophomore Max Fliegner had a 6-2 victory over Ben Clark and Ben Stride, but wins at the No. 1 and 2 positions gave the doubles point to the Bulldogs.

Wall tied things at 1-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 defeat of Tom Hands at the No. 5 position and freshman Eddie Grabill gave Dartmouth the lead by taking down Stride, 6-3 6-1. That lead was short-lived, as Drake won at No. 1 singles, making it 2-2.

Sophomore Ciro Riccardi had a 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over Bayo Philips at No. 2, but a three-set win for the Bulldogs at No. 4 once again tied the score, leaving the deciding point down to the No. 3 position. Senior Brendan Tannenbaum won the first set against Vinny Gillespie, 7-6(7) after saving two set points, but fell in the second, 6-1. He was down, 4-0, in the third before rallying to win by a score of 6-4.

The Big Green return to Boss on Sunday with an 11 a.m. match against No. 32 Tulane.