Wichita State men’s tennis team fell to No. 38 Drake, 4-0 in Des Moines, Iowa, during the Easter weekend.

The loss was the first conference loss for the Shockers, moving them to 17-8 overall. Drake improved to a perfect 4-0 in MVC play and clinched the regular season championship.

WSU dropped the doubles point to the Bulldogs when Tomislav Gregurovic/Tin Ostojic lost 8-7(6) at the No. 1 doubles position. Ilija Cuic/Jocelyn Devilliers also lost their match 8-5 to give Drake the early 1-0 lead.

“Our mistake was losing the doubles point,” senior Guillermo Nicol said. “Having the first point makes a big difference when you are getting ready for singles.”

Nicol dropped his singles match 6-2, 6-2 to Matt Frost of Drake to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.

The lead was extended to 3-0 when Cuic was forced to retire from his match due to injury, after spraining his ankle on a return. The match stood at 6-6 (9-9) when Cuic was injured.

Drake clinched the match with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Gregurovic on the No. 3 singles court.

We knew it was going to be tough going to Drake,” Ostojic said. “Hopefully, we get a shot at revenge next weekend.”

The Shockers will try to defend their MVC tournament title Saturday when they travel to Normal, Ill., for the tournament.

WSU has earned the No. 2 seed and has a first round bye before facing the winner of the Illinois State/Southern Illinois match.