DES MOINES, Iowa — Drake men's tennis earned its first victory of the 2026 spring season in convincing fashion Friday afternoon, sweeping Marquette, 7-0, at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center. The Bulldogs captured the doubles point and followed with wins at all six singles positions to secure the shutout.
Drake set the tone early in doubles play, picking up wins on courts three and two to claim the opening point. The duo of Alex Yeager and Arin Menon earned a 7-5 victory at No. 3 doubles, while Benjamin Johnson and Alan Gonzalez followed with a 7-5 win at the No. 2 position. The No. 1 doubles match between Adan Tarquino/Christian Winstead and Marquette's Blake Roegner/Remi St. Laurent was tied 5-5 when play was stopped.
"Marquette is a very well coached team that fought the whole match," said head coach Justin Stuckey. "The guys really played well and found ways to get the job done today. Getting the doubles point and Christian getting us on the board today early really helped us to be in position to take control of the match."
The Bulldogs carried that momentum into singles, starting with a dominant performance from Christian Winstead at the top of the lineup. Winstead cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Roegner at No. 1 singles to make it 2-0 Drake.
Jose Alessandro Hernandez Frias quickly added to the lead with a straight-set victory at No. 5 singles, defeating Luke Coppage 6-4, 7-5. Shortly after, Alan Gonzalez earned a three-set comeback win at No. 2 singles, rallying past Clayton Anderson 5-7, 6-1, 6-2.
Benjamin Johnson secured the match-clinching point at No. 3 singles, bouncing back after dropping the first set to defeat Remi St. Laurent 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Drake continued to roll in the remaining matches. Freshman Samuel Melaga battled to a hard-fought three-set win at No. 4 singles, defeating Kristian Blagoev 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), while Arin Menon capped the sweep with a comeback victory at No. 6 singles, topping Ivan Vazquez 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
The Bulldogs move to 1-2 on the season and will look to build on the momentum this weekend when they host Creighton on Sunday, at the Roger Knapp Tennis Center.
