ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 31 Drake University men's tennis team defeated Illinois State 4-1 in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on Saturday.

The Bulldogs received a pair of 8-3 victories from doubles team Ben Lott (Newcastle, England) and Bayo Philips (Houston, Texas) at No. 1 and Matt Frost (Cambridge, England) and Ravi Patel (London, England) at No. 3, earning the doubles point.

In singles action, Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina), who is ranked 41st, rolled past Jakub Eisner 6-1, 6-1 at No. 1. Frost extended his winning streak to five matches with a 6-4, 6-2 at No. 3. Patel opened his match with a 6-1 first set victory and closed it with a 6-4 second set win at No. 4. The Redbirds' lone point came at No. 5 singles, while No. 2 and No. 6 matches went unfinished with the Bulldogs up a set in both matches.

The Bulldogs will go for their second straight MVC Championship on Sunday at 10 a.m. as they square off with 59th-ranked Wichita State in the finals.

Drake University 4, Illinois State 1

Singles competition

1. Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Jakub Eisner (ILS) 6-1, 6-1

2. Ben Lott (DU) vs. Jacob Wilson (ILS) 6-2, 4-4, unfinished

3. Matt Frost (DU) def. Rolando Torrellas (ILS) 6-4, 6-2

4. Ravi Patel (DU) def. Christoffer Greve (ILS) 6-1, 6-4

5. Dylan Steffens (ILS) def. Calum MacGeoch (DU) 6-3, 6-3

6. Ben Mullis (DU) vs. Muddappa Appanervand (ILS) 6-1, 3-6, unfinished

Doubles competition

1. Ben Lott/Bayo Philips (DU) def. Jakub Eisner/Rolando Torrellas (ILS) 8-3

2. Alen Salibasic/Ben Mullis (DU) vs. Christoffer Greve/Dylan Steffens (ILS) 7-6, unfinished

3. Matt Frost/Ravi Patel (DU) def. Muddappa Appanervand/Jacob Wilson (ILS) 8-3

Match Notes:

Illinois State 10-12

Drake University 23-6