Ball State University Athletics
Men's Tennis Suffers Loss at No. 4 Illinois
January 28, 2006 | Men's Tennis
The Cardinals could not pick up a doubles win as the Fighting Illini swept all three matches. The fourth-ranked doubles team of Matt Baccarani and Patrick Thompson fell 8-3 to Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe at the No. 1 position. The BSU brother tandem of Tony and Jarrod Epkey also suffered an 8-3 loss at the No. 2 slot to Ryler DeHeart and Ruben Gonzales. Rounding out doubles play were Joe Epkey and Joe Vallee, who battled Brandon Davis and GD Jones. The BSU duo ended up falling to the Illini team 8-6.
The Illinois lineup featured four nationally-ranked singles players. Baccarani took on the seventh-ranked DeHeart in the top singles spot. DeHeart prevailed with a 6-2, 6-3 decision. Joe Epkey also faced a nationally-ranked opponent in Anderson at the No. 2 position. Epkey eventually suffered a 7-5, 6-0 loss. Tony Epkey was matched up with No. 59 Gonzales at the No. 3 slot. Gonzales went on to post a 6-3, 6-4 win. At the No. 4 position, Thompson took his opponent -- Pramod Dabir -- to three sets. Thompson eventually fell 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Closing out singles play was Jarrod Epkey, who fell to No. 99 Rowe 6-3, 6-1 and Jan Polhamus, who suffered a 6-4, 6-2 loss to Marc Spicijaric in the No. 6 spot.
Ball State looks to return to its winning ways when it hosts Dayton and the University of Indianapolis Saturday. The matches are set for 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., respectively, at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.
No. 4 Illinois 7, No. 68 Ball State 0
No. 1S -- #7 Ryler DeHeart (UI) def. Matt Baccarani (BSU) 6-2, 6-3
No. 2S -- #37 Kevin Anderson (UI) def. Joe Epkey (BSU) 7-5, 6-0
No. 3S -- #59 Ruben Gonzales (UI) def. Tony Epkey (BSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 4S -- Pramod Dabir (UI) def. Patrick Thompson (BSU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-3
No. 5S -- #99 Ryan Rowe (UI) def. Jarrod Epkey (BSU) 6-3, 6-1
No. 6S -- Marc Spicijaric (UI) def. Jan Polhamus (BSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 1D -- Anderson/Rowe (UI) def. #4 Baccarani/Thompson (BSU) 8-3
No. 2D -- DeHeart/Gonzales (UI) def. Tony Epkey/Jarrod Epkey (BSU) 8-3
No. 3D -- Davis/Jones (UI) def. Joe Epkey/Vallee (BSU) 8-6
