The Basics
In a rematch of last year's Summit League Championship, Drake takes on Denver at noon on Friday, April 11 on the road. In conference play, the Pioneers are 3-0 — second behind the 4-0 North Dakota Fighting Hawks — and Drake is 1-3. The two haven't met since Denver won the conference in Des Moines last year. The Bulldog-Pioneer showdown is Drake's final regular season match.
Bulldog Breakdown
Drake is 4-2 in its last six matches and 7-10 on the season overall. The Bulldogs look to rebound from losses to Illinois State and Omaha in their two most recent matches. Drake's last win was on March 22 against Oral Roberts, where they secured a come-from-behind victory. The Golden Eagles jumped out to a 3-2 lead, but clutch singles wins from
Will Ecklund and
Ben Johnson gave Drake the victory.
After his performance, Johnson won Summit League Singles Player of the Week honors. He defeated Elijah Brewer 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 on the third court to close out the match.
Adan Tarquino and
Aaron Dawson earned conference weekly honors, too. On the second doubles court, the duo won 6-2 and was named the Peak Doubles Team of the Week.
Scouting the Competition
The defending Summit League champions are 14-6 on the season and are currently riding a five-game winning streak. Most recently, Denver welcomed the No. 65 ranked New Mexico Lobos to Denver Tennis Park and took them down 4-3. The victory over the Lobos was Denver's second top-100-ranked win of the season; the other was a 5-2 win in February over No. 65-ranked Utah State.
Between singles and doubles, Denver has garnered eight weekly awards this season. The Pioneers' top singles competitor, Daniel Sancho Arbizu, has won two singles weekly awards and Raffaello Papajcik has won two as well. Last time out against New Mexico, Sancho Arbizu defeated Aditya Balsekar 6-2, 6-2 on the top singles court to boost Denver to a victory.
Drake is 9-11 against Denver all-time. Last season, the Pioneers swept the Bulldogs, so Drake hasn't defeated them since 2023.
Up Next
The Bulldogs will trek back out to Denver for the Summit League Championships, which begin on Friday, April 18.
