DES MOINES, Iowa – The Western Illinois Men's Tennis squad fell to Drake by a score of 7-0 on Sunday, March 6 at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.

The Fighting Leathernecks (2-7) were unable to come up with a set win against the Bulldogs (8-2) but Jeff Cote nearly pulled out a set win at No. 1 singles before falling to Mauricio Ballivian (6-2, 7-6).

Patrick Hammers dropped his match to James McKie in the No. 2 singles position (6-1, 6-2) while Alejandro Buceta dropped his match at the No. 3 spot to Anis Ghorbel (6-0, 6-3).

In the No. 4 singles match, Western's Mandela Shepard fell to Robin Goodman (6-1, 6-0) and Jim Capalbo lost his match at the No. 5 spot to Jonathan Hadash (6-0, 6-2). Ben Yue rounded things out with a loss to Sean O'Grady at the No. 6 position (6-4, 6-1).

The Leathernecks fared slightly better in doubles play where each of their three teams lost by scores of 8-4. The team of Cote/Hammers fell to Ballivian/Ghorbel at the No. 1 spot.

Western's No. 2 team of Buceta/Shepard lost to Drakes team of McKie/Jean Erasmus while the team of Capalbo/Yue fell to Drake/Goodman at the No. 3 position.

The Leathernecks will take the court for the next time in Florida during the teams' Spring Break trip. Western Illinois will face Qunnipiac, Youngstown State and Boston University on Orlando next week (March 14-15).