BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Senior Ravi Patel (London, England) came back from being a set down to clinch No. 31 Drake University men's tennis team's second straight Missouri Valley Conference Championship and ninth berth to the NCAA Tournament as the Bulldogs edged No. 59 Wichita State 4-3 at the Kings Point Tennis Center Sunday.

The Shockers were able to earn a win at No. 1 doubles before getting a tiebreaker victory at No. 2 to secure the doubles point.

WSU took a 2-0 lead with a victory at No. 5 singles. Senior Ben Mullis (Leicestershire, England) began the Bulldog comeback with a 7-5, 6-3 straight sets win at No. 6, as senior Matt Frost (Cambridge, England) tied the match up at two when he came away with a three-set victory, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 at No. 3. Senior Alen Salibasic (Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovina), who is ranked 41^st, recorded his 24 victory of the season by beating No. 46 Tin Ostojic, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.  

The Shockers knotted up at three with a victory at No. 2, and put the decisive point in the hands of Patel and WSU's Guillermo De Vilchez. Vilchez edged out Patel in the first set, taking it 7-5 in a tiebreaker.  Patel bounced back to win the second set 6-3 and then secured the tournament championship for the Bulldogs, winning the third set in a 7-5 tiebreaker.

The Bulldogs will find out their NCAA Tournament destination on Tuesday, April 28 when the 64-team field is revealed on NCAA.com at 4 p.m.

Click HERE for near point-by-point recap of Patel's singles match

Drake University 4, Wichita State 3
04/19/2015 at Belleville, Ill. (Kings Point Tennis Center)