BELLEVILLE, Ill. -- The Wichita State men won four crucial tiebreakers in Sunday's Missouri Valley Conference Team Championship match but fell short in the one that mattered most.
Drake's Ravi Patel won the final two points of a do-or-die, third-set tiebreaker over WSU's Guillermo de Vilchez to give the Bulldogs a 4-3 victory and their second-straight MVC Tournament title.
Drake improved to 24-6 and earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. WSU dropped to 19-7.
With the first six points divided evenly between the two schools, No. 4 singles became priority No. 1 for both sides. Patel and de Vilchez had the stage to themselves for nearly 45 minutes of high-stakes tennis.
WSU's de Vilchez had gained the upper-hand with a 7-6(5) first-set win. Patel took the second set 6-3. Down 4-3 in the third, de Vilchez rallied. He broke Patel's serve to take a 5-4 lead and found himself serving for the match. Instead, Patel escaped championship-point to take the game and even the score at 5-5.
Both players held serve, pushing the total to six games-appiece, and setting up a race to seven points to decide the set, match and conference championship.
The players were never separated by more than a point until the very end. Patel sent a forehand into the net to even the tiebreak at 5-5 but bounced back to take the next next two points, closing out the win for Drake.
Weather forced the title match indoors to the Kings Point Racquet Club, and WSU adjusted well, taking the doubles point with wins on two of the three courts.
The nationally-ranked duo of Tomislav Gregurovic and Tin Ostojic doubled-up Ben Lott and Bayo Phillips at the No. 1 spot, 8-4. Jocelyn Devilliers and Miroslav Herzan came up short in a close match at No. 3 (8-6), setting up the first key tiebreaker of the day.
Ilija Cuic and de Vilchez edged Alen Salibasic and Ben Mullis, 8-7 (7-5) to give the Shockers an early leg up in the dual.
Ben Mullis evened the dual for Drake with a 7-5, 6-3 win at No. 6, but the Shockers answered.
Herzan - who missed the singles portion of the regular season meeting against Drake - made his presence felt at No. 5 singles with a swift 6-1, 6-0 victory to put the Shockers back in front, 2-1.
WSU avoided defeat at No. 3 by pulling out yet another tiebreaker. Tomislav Gregurovic avoided a straight-set sweep with a 7-6 (7-5) win to force a third set. The momentum was short-lived, as Frost regrouped to take the match, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2.
Drake forged ahead 3-2 and moved within a match of the title with a big win at No. 1. Salibasic (ITA No. 41) avenged a regular-season loss to WSU's Tin Ostojic (ITA No. 46) in a battle of nationally-ranked singles players, 6-7(7), 6-3, 6-4.
Down 4-2, WSU got a major boost from Cuic. The senior picked the perfect time to collect his first win of the year over a nationally-ranked opponent, bouncing Drake's Ben Lott (ITA No. 58) at No. 2 singles, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.
Cuic's win tied the match at 3-3 and set the stage for de Vilchez and Patel, who were early in their deciding third set when all eyes shifted in their direction.
#31 Drake 4, #59 Wichita State 3
April 19, 2015, 10:00 am
Belleville, Ill. | Kings Point Tennis Center
Singles competition
1. Alen Salibasic (DU) def. Tin Ostojic (WSU) 6-7, 6-3, 6-4
2. Ilija Cuic (WSU) def. Ben Lott (DU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-3
3. Matt Frost (DU) def. Tomislav Gregurovic (WSU) 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
4. Ravi Patel (DU) def. Guillermo De Vilchez (WSU) 7-6, 6-3, 7-6
5. Miroslav Herzan (WSU) def. Calum MacGeoch (DU) 6-1, 6-0
6. Ben Mullis (DU) def. Jocelyn DeVilliers (WSU) 7-5, 6-3
 Doubles competition
1. Tomislav Gregurovic/Tin Ostojic (WSU) def. Ben Lott/Bayo Philips (DU) 8-4
2. Ilija Cuic/Guillermo De Vilchez (WSU) def. Alen Salibasic/Ben Mullis (DU) 8-7
3. Matt Frost/Ravi Patel (DU) def. Jocelyn DeVilliers/Miroslav Herzan (WSU) 8-6
Match Notes:
Wichita State 19-7
Drake University 24-6
Order of finish: 1, 3, 2 (Doubles); 6, 5, 3, 1, 2, 4 (Singles)
-Wichita State-
