DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake men's tennis team travels to Austin, Texas this Saturday and Sunday to compete in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend event against No. 9 Texas, Oregon and Rice at the Edgar O. and Melanie A. Weller Indoor Tennis Center.
 
The Bulldogs begin the event squaring off against host No. 9 Texas on Saturday at 1 p.m. And then close out the weekend against either Oregon or Rice, depending on Saturday's outcome.
 
Drake opened the season last week and earned a pair of wins, led by sophomore captain Vinny Gillespie, who was named MVC Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Bulldogs topped George Washington 6-1 and Northern Illinois 4-0.
 
The Longhorns are 4-1 on the season with their first loss of the season coming last weekend at Tulsa. Texas boasts three top-50 singles players and two top-50 doubles in the rankings. Freshman Christian Sigsgaard leads the Longhorns ranked No. 6, while fellow freshman Yuya Ito and Harrison Scott are ranked 36th and 47th, respectively.
 
Oregon heads into the weekend undefeated, 2-0, as they beat Montana State and Utah State to open the season. Rice is receiving votes in the latest ITA top-25 team rankings and is coming off wins against UT Arlington and Prairie View A&M.
 
If the Bulldogs are able to come away with two wins, they would advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championship in Virginia.