ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Drake University men's tennis team garnered four first-team Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete selections, announced by the league office on Friday (April 17).
Seniors Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England and Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina) are return members to the scholar-athlete team, and are joined by classmates Matt Frost (Cambridge, England) and Ravi Patel (London, England).
Mullis, a law, politics and society major, holds a 3.58 GPA. He owns a combined 25-10 singles/doubles record this year. Mullis was named first team All-MVC at No. 6 singles and No. 2 doubles last year and was also chosen as MVC Player and Scholar-Athlete of the Week last spring. In 2013, he won the No. 5 singles championship at the MVC Individual and finished the year with a 41-13 combined singles/doubles record.
Salibasic maintains a perfect 4.0 GPA as an international business major. He has been named MVC Athlete of the Week five times this year and is currently ranked 41st in singles. Salibasic received the MVC Elite 18 award for the second-straight year in 2014 and was also named MVC Player of the Year.
Frost owns a 3.31 GPA as a business management major and is 23-11 in singles with a perfect 3-0 conference singles record. He garnered first team All-MVC accolades at No. 4 and No. 3 doubles last year, and registered a 41-24 combined singles/doubles record.
Patel is a sociology major with a 3.2 GPA and is 17-9 in singles this year. He was named MVC Athlete of the Week on Feb. 10 for his 7-0 week, registering four singles wins and three doubles victories. Patel was named first team All-MVC No. 5 singles last season and recorded a 40-14 singles/doubles record.
To be eligible for nominations to the MVC Scholar-Athlete teams, nominees must own a cumulative GPA of 3.20 based on a 4.0 scale and be a starter or important reserve and have played in at least 75 percent of its team's matches. Student-athletes also must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and have completed at least one full academic year at their respective institution.
The top-seeded Bulldogs open play at the MVC Championship on Saturday (April 18) in St. Louis, Mo., against Illinois State at 10:00 a.m.
