DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University men's tennis team has a tough task head of them as the Bulldogs square off against No. 47 Washington on Saturday and No. 32 Minnesota on Sunday in Minneapolis at the Baseline Tennis Center.
 
The Bulldogs (6-5) will be looking to snap their three-game slide after falling to No. 23 Oregon and BYU last weekend. Drake is led by sophomore Vinny Gillespie, who is ranked 55th in singles nationally, holds a 8-1 record at the No. 1 spot. Fellow sophomore Tom Hands has also given the Bulldog lineup some consistency as he is 6-2 this season.
 
Washington enters the weekend with a 7-3 record and will play Minnesota on Friday before facing the Bulldogs. The Huskies are coming off a 4-3 loss to Indiana on Feb. 26. Washington is led by Enzo Sommer and Amit Batta, who have a 7-2 and 7-0 record, respectively.
 
Minnesota opened the season 7-0, but since then have lost two of its last four. In the Gophers' last time out, they fell to Oklahoma State, 5-2 on Feb. 24. Minnesota is led by Mat Spec and Stefan Milicevic, who are ranked 68th and 117th, respectively. Spec has a 6-4 at the Gophers' top spot with three of his losses coming against nationally ranked opponents, while Milicevic leads the team with eight wins.
 
Drake stays on the road next week when it travels to No. 9 Michigan on March 10 and Michigan State on March 12.