CARBONDALE, Ill. – No. 31 Drake University men's tennis team secured its fifth straight Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship with a 5-2 road win over Southern Illinois on Saturday.

“Today was a tough conference road match, because of the all day traveling yesterday and then getting up for a morning match. We knew we were going to be tested, because SIU is well coached by Dan Nelson and he always seems to have his team ready to play us,” said Drake head coach Davidson Kozlowski.

The Bulldogs needed the freshmen team of Ben Stride (Bognor Regis, England) and Bayo Philips (Houston, Texas) at No. 2 to clinch the doubles point for Drake as the rookie tandem won 8-7, while seniors Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) and Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) were the first doubles team to get off the court with an 8-4 win at No. 1.

Drake used the momentum from doubles to take a quick 3-0 lead. Senior Ravi Patel (London, England) rolled past SUI's Daniel Martinez, 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles, while freshman Calum MacGeoch (Edinburgh, Scotland) earned a dominating 6-2, 6-3 win at No. 4. SIU cut its deficit to 3-1 with a win at No. 6, but senior Matt Frost (Cambridge, England) clinched the match for Drake with a comeback three-set victory at No. 2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. Salibasic earned the Bulldogs' final win of the day at No. 1, 6-7, 7-5, 10-4.

“I am proud and excited that we were able to lock up the No. 1 seed in the MVC tournament and get the first round bye,” said Kozlowski.

The Bulldogs will be the top seed in the MVC Championship and will play in the semifinals on Saturday, April 18 at 10 a.m.

#31 Drake 5, Southern Illinois University 2
04/11/2015 at Carbondale, Ill. (University Courts)