BY ADAM ROGAN
Even with a loss to the University of Minnesota, Drake snuck back into the nation’s top 50 teams after falling out last week.
Against no. 47 University of Washington on March 4, that point made the difference as Drake won 4-3. But the doubles point went to waste against no. 32 University of Minnesota; it was one of Drake’s only two points on March 5.
Unsurprisingly, the second point against Minnesota came from sophomore Vinny Gillespie who is already in double digits in the win column at 10-1. He is now ranked 48th in the nation in singles.
Junior Calum MacGeoch didn’t play throughout the weekend. He had been hampered with a shoulder injury over the last few weeks and is on a four-match losing streak.
Junior Ben Stride filled in on court no. 2. It paid off against Washington. He won in straight sets 7-5, 6-3, which helped make the one-point difference in the match.
He lost against Minnesota, falling to 5-6 on the season, although he’s 2-2 on the second court.
The clincher against Washington came from sophomore Tom Hands on court no. 4. Each set came down to the wire. He fell in the first set 6-4, but tied up the match with a 7-5 win in set two. He sealed the victory in a third set tiebreaker. He is now 7-3 in 2017.
Including doubles — which he won 7-6 (6) with Gillespie — Hands played a total of 48 games. The other doubles win came in a tiebreaker as well. Juniors Bayo Philips and Ben Wood won 7-6 (3).
The Bulldogs will be busy competing over spring break. They’ll play the University of Michigan on March 10. Two days later they have a doubleheader against Western Michigan University and Michigan State University.
Following those matches, the team will travel to California for the San Diego Spring Break Tournament, hosted by the University of San Diego.