The true measure of a champion isn't the accolades and honors won but how one carries itself in the face of adversity. For the 2009 edition of the Drake men's tennis squad, the challenges overcome en route to winning its third straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season crown may prove to be the foundation for ascending back into the NCAA Tournament in 2010.
A young line-up looking to overcome the loss of two all-conference performers began what proved to be one of the more remarkable campaigns in school history as it sought to capture Drake's third consecutive MVC regular season crown as well as the Bulldogs' fourth straight NCAA Tournament berth.
Under the leadership of fourth year head coach Chase Hodges, Drake entered its spring campaign brimming with confidence, carrying a national ranking and the country's longest regular-season winning streak at 42 consecutive matches.
“It was nice to be picked to win the Valley again,” Hodges said. “We knew it was going to be extremely difficult to win our fourth title in a row but our team looked forward to the challenge.”
The Bulldogs proved to be a constant work in progress as Hodges continually labored to find the right combinations on the court that he hoped would equate to victories against a schedule littered with nationally-ranked opponents.
After a slow start, Drake began to fire on all cylinders in March as the Bulldogs closed the regular season with seven straight wins to go 6-0 in league play and earn the top seed at the State Farm MVC Championship in Omaha, Neb.
Drake moved one step closer to its goal of capturing its fourth consecutive State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship title, registering a 4-1 victory over Illinois State in the semifinal round.
The momentum quickly swung against Drake as an unprecedented run in men's tennis history came to an unceremonious end in the title match as Southern Illinois stunned the Bulldogs, 4-3, to claim the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth.
Throughout it all, Hodges propelled his team through adversity and growing pains on the court to lead Drake to a 14-10 mark, including 6-0 in the MVC. The record is even more inspiring considering the Bulldogs started the season falling in seven of their first 10 matches.
Senior Maor Zirkin, the 2009 MVC Player of the Year, was the catalyst for the Bulldogs' success, posting a team-best 53-18 combined singles/doubles ledger, including 32-5 in singles. Zirkin, sophomore Mauricio Ballivian, junior Guilherme Marsiglia and senior Ivan Mendoza all recorded 20 or more wins in singles competition.
Zirkin, Ballivian, senior Ricardo Lau, Mendoza, freshman Cesar Bracho and Marsiglia garnered first team all-league honors on the court in 2009, while Hodges was rewarded with his third straight MVC Coach of the Year award.
Off the court, Zirkin earned first team All-MVC Scholar-Athlete laurels, while Mendoza and Marsiglia were tabbed for honorable mention accolades.
For the second consecutive season, the Bulldogs had a player tie or break the all-time victory record at Drake. Dalibor Pavic tied the mark in 2008 with his 206th career triumph before Zirkin smashed the mark in 2009 with 53 victories to finish his career with 228 wins.
Hodges remains optimistic that the lessons learned this past season will be ones that help motivate and shape the Bulldogs next spring.
“We have to move forward as it was a great run winning three straight championships,” Hodges commented. “We have to take this experience and learn from it. This was a season that we overachieved in many ways. We captured the regular season MVC title, but unfortunately we didn't get it done at the tournament.”
