DES MOINES, IOWA – The Drake University men's tennis team, defending Missouri Valley champions, will open its defense of that title this weekend as the Bulldogs host No. 70 Utah State on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
 
Head coach Davidson Kozlowski is in his fourth season leading the Bulldogs and has been named MVC Coach of the Year and guided Drake to the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons.
 
This year's squad is very young with just one upperclassman and seven underclassmen, including four sophomores and three freshmen. The lone upperclassman is senior Ben Lott, who is ranked No. 18 in the ITA Central Region, played in the main singles draw at the ITA All-American Championship and made a run to the quarterfinals of the ITA Central Region Championship this fall. Last year, Lott tallied 21 wins and posted a 5-5 recorded against nationally ranked opponents to end the season ranked No. 71.
 
The Bulldogs will likely see all seven underclassmen rotate into the lineup this year. Sophomores Calum MacGeoch, Bayo Philips and Ben Stride earned valuable experience last year as they were key to the Bulldogs' run to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. MacGeoch, joined the squad last January and made an immediate impact as he went 14-7 in singles, including seven wins that helped the Bulldogs beat No. 22 Harvard, No. 29 N.C. State, No. 38 San Diego State, No. 52 North Florida, No. 52 Wichita State, No. 57 Iowa and No. 73 VCU. Philips saw limited time in the singles lineup but was a regular in the doubles lineup last year and will be looked upon to make an impact in the singles lineup and continue his strong play in the doubles lineup this season. Stride rotated in and out of the lineup last season and will also be looked upon to make an impact in both the singles and doubles lineup this year. Sophomore Ben Wood saw limited time on the court last year and will look to get into the lineup on a regular basis this spring.
 
The Bulldogs welcome three freshmen, Ben Clark, Vinny Gillespie and Tom Hands, who will a be asked to make an immediate impact after losing four experienced seniors from last year's squad.
 
Next on the Bulldogs slate will be a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C. for the ITA Kickoff Weekend, where they will open play against No. 40 N.C. State on Saturday, Jan. 23 and then square off against either No. 47 Indiana or host No. 9 North Carolina on Sunday, Jan. 24.