The Basics
Drake Men's Tennis' road trip will pivot to Fayetteville, Arkansas for a mid-week match against the Arkansas Razorbacks. The game is slated for Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. The Bulldogs will then conclude their four-game road stand against Oklahoma State on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 11 a.m.
Bulldogs By the Numbers
Drake went 1-1 last weekend with a loss to Indiana and a win over Purdue. Drake bounced back from a shutout loss against Indiana with a 4-3 against Purdue.
Markus Bolin clinched the doubles and match point in his wins against the Boilermakers. Bolin improved his singles record to a team-best 6-1 mark.
Matija Matic and
Oliver Johansson also won singles matches in the winning effort.
Scouting the Competition
Arkansas is 5-2 on the season in their non-conference matches. Most recently, they defeated Nebraska 4-3 on the road. Before the Nebraska contest, they narrowly lost 3-4 to No. 25 ranked Memphis.
Sophomore Gerard Planelles Ripoll competes in the No. 1 singles slot for the Razorbacks. Last time out, Ripoll won his singles match over his Nebraska opponent. Ripoll went 15-9 in his freshman season. In the most recent ITA top 25 rankings, Arkansas' Melvin Manuel was ranked No. 107 in the singles top 125.
Drake is 0-2 all-time against the Razorbacks. Drake lost their first match versus Arkansas 1-4 and dropped the second match 1-6. Both matches were played in Fayetteville. Schifris was the lone Bulldog to secure a win last time against Arkansas.
Oklahoma State has dominated to an 8-2 cumulative record this Spring season. They are 7-1 when defending their home court and are riding a four-game win streak coming into play versus Drake. Two matches ago, Oklahoma State defeated No. 5 Southern California 6-1 to add a ranked win to its resume.
Oklahoma State has two players ranked inside No. 32 in the ITA singles rankings. Tyler Zink is ranked No. 21 and Alex Garcia is No. 32; both Cowboys are graduate students. The duo of Zink/Isaac Becroft is ranked No. 26 on ITA's doubles rankings.
Oklahoma State is 2-0 in all-time matchups against Drake, but the two schools haven't faced off since 2003.
Up Next
Drake will return to Des Moines and host Wichita State on Friday, Feb. 23 at 5 p.m.
