Rockhurst Sentinel

It was a season of firsts for the Rockhurst men’s tennis team. A season that included the first Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Championship for the school in this sport also got that Drury “monkey” off their back. 

Rockhurst had not beaten Drury in men’s tennis since any of the current Hawks have been in school. You might say Drury had their number, beating Rockhurst in the GLVC tournament each of the previous three seasons, and once ending their run in the NCAA tournament in 2006. Not to mention the regular season matchups.

Alas, all has been avenged when the second-seeded Hawks knocked off one-seed Drury, the 16th ranked school in NCAA Division II, 5-1 in the championship match of the GLVC tournament on Saturday, April 25. Not only had Drury had the Hawks’ number, they had pretty much gotten the better of every team in the GLVC.

Rockhurst’s defeat of the Panthers was their first ever defeat in the GLVC tournament. As sophomore Ben Newell put it, “It just feels great to beat those guys (Drury). We have never beaten them.”

Newell teamed with his twin brother Zack to pick up a key win for the Hawks against Drury in No. 1 doubles, just as they have been doing most of the season. 

The Newell brothers are 18-5 overall this season in doubles matches. Ben and Zack have also had successful seasons in singles matches as well, posting overall records of 20-2 and 11-8, respectively.

The Hawks also picked up a key victory against Drury in the No. 1 singles matchup thanks to sophomore Arturo Baravalle. The Cordoba, Argentina native is ranked 12th in singles in the ITA Midwest Regional Poll thanks to a 15-7 record on the season. Baravalle has also posted 17-6 record in doubles, frequently pairing with freshman Victor Klintcharov, whose doubles record stands at 15-6.  Klintcharov, a native of New Zealand, is ranked 8th in singles in the ITA Midwest Regional Poll and both he and Baravalle were named to the All-GLVC Men’s Tennis Team.

Senior Adam Bales, juniors Ryan Field and Paulo Bombanatti and sophomore David Maddox join the Newell brothers, Baravalle and Klintcharov as the Hawks prepare to host the first and second rounds of the NCAA Midwest Regionals this Thursday and Friday. 

Rockhurst, a two seed (18-6 overall), will face Indianapolis, the seven seed (13-11 overall), at 10 a.m. on Thursday. In the other regional semifinal, third-seeded Drury will face sixth-seeded Northern Kentucky at 2 p.m.  The winners of these two matchups will play at 10 a.m. Friday for the right to advance to the Division II Championships to be help in Altamonte Springs, Fla., May 13-16.

Expectations are high for the Hawks as they head into the regional semifinals. “If we play to our potential, we should win both rounds and be heading to Florida the following week,” said Bales. 

Rockhurst has already previously beaten Indianapolis 6-3 in a match played in Indiana in early April. I don’t think I have to mention Rockhurst’s history with their likely second round opponent, Drury.

Article Tools