MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois men's tennis squad will travel to Des Moines, Iowa this weekend for a pair of
dual matches against Marquette (March 5) and Drake (March 6) inside the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The Marquette
match will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday while the Drake contest begins at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
The Fighting Leathernecks (2-5) are coming off a 7-0 loss at Southern
Illinois last Saturday (Feb. 26). Sophomore Patrick Hammers and senior Alejandro Buceta each earned first set wins at the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively. Both
Hammers (2-6, 6-1, 6-1) and Buceta (3-6, 6-2, 6-0) ultimately fell in three
sets.
After competing at No. 6 singles for most of the season, junior Jim Capalbo
dropped his match at the No. 5 position (6-0, 6-0) while freshman Ben Yue lost
(6-4, 6-4) in his first singles action of the season at the No. 6 spot.
In doubles action, Buceta and junior Mandela Shepard played together at No.
2 doubles for the first time and fell 8-6. Meanwhile, Capalbo and Yue competed
at No. 3 for the first time this season and lost 8-4.
Senior Francisco Ortiz (No. 5) and Shepard (No. 4) both own a team-high three
singles wins this season while the No. 1 doubles team of senior Jeff Cote and Hammers
holds a squad-best 4-3 record.
Marquette (7-5) swept Bradley and Eastern Illinois at home last weekend. The
Golden Eagles will take on Drake at 11 a.m. before playing Western in the
afternoon. Sophomore Jose Carlos Crowley is 8-4 at No. 1 singles this season
while freshman Dan Mamalat owns the same record at the No. 2-3 positions.
Drake (6-2) picked up its first two losses of the spring season at
Iowa (Feb. 23) and Minnesota (Feb. 25) last week. Sophomores Jean Erasmus and Anis
Ghorbel are both 7-1 in singles action this season while freshman Robin Goodman
is 6-1 at the No. 4-6 positions.
Last season, Marquette defeated Western Illinois 7-0 in Milwaukee on Jan. 23,
2010. In the Leathernecks' previous match with Drake, the Bulldogs picked up a 7-0 home victory on Feb. 28, 2010 inside the Roger Knapp Tennis
Center.
