With the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament underway, the Wichita State men’s tennis team took the courts with revenge on its mind.

The plan: Get to Sunday and face No. 27 Drake. The team in the way: the Southern Illinois Salukis.

Saturday’s match with SIU started with the usual fast, energized pace they’ve shown throughout the season

“Take charge early,” coach Brad Louderback said to his players.

WSU went up early with a point in doubles when the duo of Matheus Pereira and Tin Ostojic won at the one position 8-5. Erick Reyes and Ilija Cuic also won their doubles match. Pereira and Ostojic earned MVC All-Conference Team honors in doubles.

Heading to singles with a one-point lead is crucial when you only have to four to take the majority. In singles, Pereira won easily at the No. 1 singles position 6-1, 6-1. Finishing not even five minutes later was teammate Reyes, who won 6-0, 6-2.

WSU stalled, but did not yield a single point to SIU, as it had in the regular season. Guillermo Nicol clinched the match with an exciting match of his own, winning 6-3, 6-4. Nicol came through in the clutch, giving the Shockers another shot at Drake.

The team took the court focused on the task at hand. There was only one way today could end in the Shockers’ minds.

Doubles were fueled by a packed house at the Sheldon Coleman Tennis Complex. The duos of Cuic/Reyes and Pereira/Ostojic won their doubles matches 8-5 to give WSU the early lead.

When WSU won the doubles match against Drake in the regular season, they still had a huge fight ahead of them and came up short, which weighed in their minds all day.

Singles is when the match got interesting.

Drake came roaring back into the match with their four MVC All-Conference Team players. Cuic dropped his match 6-1, 6-1 and Pereira also lost 6-2, 7-5, giving Drake a 2-1 lead.

The other four matches were pushed to three sets. Tomislav Gregurovic tied the match up with a win in the clutch 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Reyes dropped his first set, but in his usual calm and cool demeanor, he fought back and won his match 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Nicol had to overcome a surge from his opponent, but came up a bit short. He won the first set 6-4 and then faded and dropped the second 1-6. The third went to an exciting tie-break that ended in disappointment for Nicol as he lost 7-3.

This put the entire weight of the match on freshman talent Ostojic, as the teams were tied at three points apiece. Ostojic’s match at this point was standing at 6-4, 3-6, 5-2.

Being only one game away seemed more than the freshman could handle, and he found the most difficult point to get was the last one.

Drake’s Robin Goodman won three of the next four games, putting Ostojic’s back against the wall. After pushing Goodman to deuce three separate times, Ostojic was able to out muscle the sure-handed Goodman for a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory and huge 4-3 upset over Drake.

After such a huge victory, it seems the team no longer considers Ostojic a freshman.

“He didn’t act like a freshman at the end of the match,” Louderback said.

“He (Ostojic) is playing like a senior. He’s the big dog,” Pereira said.

Ostojic isn’t ready to end his freshman season here, no matter how his team views him. His victory means an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the Shockers.

“I wanted to win this for my team,” Ostojic said. “I’m still a freshman for a little bit longer. One month to go.”

The Shocker’s automatic bid puts them in the NCAA Tournament, which is held May 10-12. The opponent and location will be announced later this week.