Men's Tennis Begins Fall Season With Doubles Play At Drake Invitational

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Creighton men's tennis team opened the 2017 fall season with doubles play during the Drake Invitational on Friday at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. Four Bluejay doubles teams combined to go 9-5.

The Creighton duo of sophomores Daniel Lopez-Rey and Mac Mease advanced to the Flight 2 championship and finished runner-up. Lopez-Rey and Mease won three consecutive matches and matched up with Drake's Ben Clark and Barny Thorold in the Flight 2 final before falling to the host school's pair.

Michael Koch and Joe Hoff won their first two matches before falling in the semifinals of Flight 2. Koch and Hoff controlled victories over teams from Northwest Missouri State and Northern Illinois before falling to a Drake duo during a tiebreaker.

In Flight 1, Armando Gandini and Alex Koca dropped their first match but responded with three consecutive wins to claim the consolation bracket crown. Gandini and Koca defeated a pair of doubles teams from North Dakota and a pair from Tulsa on their way to the consolation side title. The Bluejay pair defeated Daniel Martinez and Lukas Buth in the Consolation Final.

Brooks Kendall and Stratton Brown went 1-2 during Flight 1 play. The duo fell to a pair from Drake, but Kendall and Brown bounced back for a win over a team from Gustavus on the consolation side of the bracket. The pair fell to a North Dakota's Martinez and Buth during the consolation semifinals.

"Our doubles was very good at times tonight," head coach Tom Lillly said. "Joe and Michael didn't get broken at all in three matches but ended up dropping the breaker in the semis. Daniel and Mac beat a very good Tulsa duo and then had chances in the finals.

"Overall, I am optimistic about our potential in doubles, and we will hope to compete well in singles the next two days."

Singles play at the Drake Invitational will start on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Results
Doubles Flight 1
Ben Wood/Tom Hands (Drake) def. Brooks Kendall/Stratton Brown, 6-1
Kendall/Brown def. Tommy Entwistle/Chase Johnson (Gustavus), 7-6 (8)
Daniel Martinez/Lukas Buth (North Dakota) def. Kendall/Brown, 6-1

Robinson/Bjorn Kurtze (Northwest Missouri State) def. Armando Gandini/Alex Koca, 6-3
Gandini/Koca def. Matt Hokanson/Ben Yeacker (North Dakota), 6-3
Gandini/Koca def. Jarod Hing/Mitchell Pritchard (Tulsa), 7-6 (4)
Gandini/Koca def. Martinez/Buth (North Dakota), 7-6

Doubles Flight 2
Daniel Lopez-Rey/Mac Mease def. Youssef Sherif/Jorge Serrano (Northwest Missouri State), 7-5
Lopez-Rey/Mease def. Louis-Philippe Hamel/Tom Hjertonsson (Northern Illinois), 6-3
Lopez-Rey/Mease def. Joshua Goodger/Boriss Kamden (Tulsa), 6-3
Ben Clark/Barny Thorold (Drake) def. Lopez-Rey/Mease, 6-4

Michael Koch/Joe Hoff def. Pedro Pontes/Francisco Mesa (Northwest Missouri State), 6-4
Koch/Hoff def. Kristopher Ortega/Victor Spolidorio (Northern Illinois), 6-3
Clark/Thorold (Drake) def. Koch/Hoff, 7-6

Men's Tennis Begins Fall Season With Doubles Play At Drake Invitational

Players Mentioned

Stratton Brown

Armando Gandini

Joe Hoff

Brooks Kendall

Alex Koca

Michael Koch

Daniel Lopez-Rey

Mac Mease

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