Friday, September 16
Des Moines, IA
Creighton University
at
Drake Invitational
Photo by: Travis Bell, Sideline Carolina Photography
Lanahan and Rubio Lead Bluejays in Fall Opener at Drake Invitational
9/18/2022 7:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Lanahan and Rubio each record 3-0 marks to open Fall season
DES MOINES, Iowa – Junior Matthew Lanahan and graduate transfer Ricky Rubio each collected three single victories as the Creighton men's tennis team closed out the Drake Invitational at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
Lanahan advanced to the championship match in Flight 3 with a perfect 3-0 mark before rained ended the event early.
Rubio opened his Bluejay career with a 3-0 record, also reaching the title match in Flight 5.
Freshman Kirtan Patel closed out the weekend with a 2-1 mark in Flight 2, while graduate transfer Oscar Alvarez's advanced to the semifinals of Flight 3 as he finished with a 2-1 record.
Sophomore Ethan Neil recorded a 2-1 record in Flight 4, while junior Zack Maline also came out with a 2-1 record in Flight 5. Freshman Zachary Kuo started his career as a Bluejay with a 1-2 mark in Flight 5.
In doubles action, Alvarez and junior Shin Inoue teamed up and advanced to the semifinals of Flight 2 before falling to Gustavus Adolphus' Marco Siviero and Sourabh Terakanambi ending their run with a 2-1 record.
Patel paired with Maline to take down Gustavus Adolphus' Tyler Haddorff and Gage Gohl, 8-7 (7-4) in the round of 16 before falling to Iowa Central's Alex Lago and Prince Gandonou, 7-6 (8-6) in the quarterfinals round. They responded to capture a victory in the consolation draws to close out the weekend with a 2-1 mark.
After dropping their opening round matchup, senior Casey Ross and Lanahan regrouped for a pair of victories in the Flight 2 Doubles Consolation draws to finish the opening weekend with a 2-1 record.
In Flight 3 Doubles, Neil and Rubio fell in their opening round match, but captured a consolation draw win before ending the first event of the fall with a 1-2 overall record.
"We competed well all weekend long," said head coach Tom Lilly. "Of course, we would like to have had better results in the matches that we lost but we were competitive in every match we lost. A great job by Lanahan and Rubio for their undefeated singles weekend.
The rain forced adjustments and shortened the format for singles and doubles and that meant a lot of very close matches. We missed Alejandro Gandini and Yuma Daijima this weekend, but it was great to see everyone in action for the first time this fall. We know more about our team now and we will use the information gathered at this event to improve over the next few weeks and move forward as a team heading into our next fall event.
The Bluejays will return to the courts on Oct. 7 when they return to Des Moines for the Drake Invite.
Results
Flight 1 Singles
Casey Ross 0-2
Flight 2 Singles
Shin Inoue 0-2
Kirtan Patel 2-1
Flight 3 Singles
Matthew Lanahan 3-0
Oscar Alvarez 2-1
Flight 4 Singles
Ethan Neil 2-1
Flight 5 Singles
Ricky Rubio 3-0
Zack Maline 2-1
Zachary Kuo 1-2
Flight 2 Doubles
Oscar Alvarez/Shin Inoue 2-1
Matthew Lanahan/Casey Ross 2-1
Zack Maline/Kirtan Patel 2-1
Flight 3 Doubles
Ethan Neil/Ricky Rubio 1-2
Lanahan advanced to the championship match in Flight 3 with a perfect 3-0 mark before rained ended the event early.
Rubio opened his Bluejay career with a 3-0 record, also reaching the title match in Flight 5.
Freshman Kirtan Patel closed out the weekend with a 2-1 mark in Flight 2, while graduate transfer Oscar Alvarez's advanced to the semifinals of Flight 3 as he finished with a 2-1 record.
Sophomore Ethan Neil recorded a 2-1 record in Flight 4, while junior Zack Maline also came out with a 2-1 record in Flight 5. Freshman Zachary Kuo started his career as a Bluejay with a 1-2 mark in Flight 5.
In doubles action, Alvarez and junior Shin Inoue teamed up and advanced to the semifinals of Flight 2 before falling to Gustavus Adolphus' Marco Siviero and Sourabh Terakanambi ending their run with a 2-1 record.
Patel paired with Maline to take down Gustavus Adolphus' Tyler Haddorff and Gage Gohl, 8-7 (7-4) in the round of 16 before falling to Iowa Central's Alex Lago and Prince Gandonou, 7-6 (8-6) in the quarterfinals round. They responded to capture a victory in the consolation draws to close out the weekend with a 2-1 mark.
After dropping their opening round matchup, senior Casey Ross and Lanahan regrouped for a pair of victories in the Flight 2 Doubles Consolation draws to finish the opening weekend with a 2-1 record.
In Flight 3 Doubles, Neil and Rubio fell in their opening round match, but captured a consolation draw win before ending the first event of the fall with a 1-2 overall record.
"We competed well all weekend long," said head coach Tom Lilly. "Of course, we would like to have had better results in the matches that we lost but we were competitive in every match we lost. A great job by Lanahan and Rubio for their undefeated singles weekend.
The rain forced adjustments and shortened the format for singles and doubles and that meant a lot of very close matches. We missed Alejandro Gandini and Yuma Daijima this weekend, but it was great to see everyone in action for the first time this fall. We know more about our team now and we will use the information gathered at this event to improve over the next few weeks and move forward as a team heading into our next fall event.
The Bluejays will return to the courts on Oct. 7 when they return to Des Moines for the Drake Invite.
Results
Flight 1 Singles
Casey Ross 0-2
Flight 2 Singles
Shin Inoue 0-2
Kirtan Patel 2-1
Flight 3 Singles
Matthew Lanahan 3-0
Oscar Alvarez 2-1
Flight 4 Singles
Ethan Neil 2-1
Flight 5 Singles
Ricky Rubio 3-0
Zack Maline 2-1
Zachary Kuo 1-2
Flight 2 Doubles
Oscar Alvarez/Shin Inoue 2-1
Matthew Lanahan/Casey Ross 2-1
Zack Maline/Kirtan Patel 2-1
Flight 3 Doubles
Ethan Neil/Ricky Rubio 1-2
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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