Tennis is an individual sport but Drake coach Chase Hodges says his players are enjoying the team aspect of college tennis as they get set for for next week’s start of the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs will travel to the University of Illinois to take on 21st ranked Michigan in the opening round on May 11th.

Hodges say the majority of the players are coming from individual backgrounds and getting the into the team mode is important. The top six players score points. In just his second season as coach Hodges is leading to Bulldogs back to the NCAA Tournament.

They’ve won back-to-back conference championships and tourney bids. He says they have a winnable first round match against Michigan. Drake has won 22 straight matches including the Missouri Valley tournament this past weekend. Drake is 23-2 and Hodges says his team has a lot of momentum.