Ball State University
Xavier
Men's Tennis Wins 4-3 Thriller Over Xavier
February 14, 2015 | Men's Tennis
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's tennis team rallied for a thrilling 4-3 victory over Xavier in non-conference action Friday afternoon at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center. With the win the Cardinals improve to 3-5 overall while the Musketeers fall to 5-3 on the season.
"It was a nice comeback win for our guys," Ball State head men's tennis coach Bill Richards said. "It showed a lot of resiliency. After losing the doubles point and four first sets in singles it wasn't looking good. But we fought back and found a way to win. Hopefully we can build on this after a disappointing start to our year."
The Cardinals fell behind early 1-0 to the Musketeers after losing the doubles point. The doubles tandem of Patrick Elliott and Andrew Stutz suffered a 6-3 setback to Zach Mueck and Matt Bishop at the No. 1 double slot. Lucas Andersen alongside teammate Matt Helm also fell short of a victory losing to Jeremy Schneider and Arthur Stefani by a score of 6-4 at the No. 3 position.
Ball State would answer in singles play after dropping four of the first sets, the Cardinals rebounded winning at the No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 positions. Leonard defeated Schneier in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5 at the No. 2 slot. Jan Jirus took a three set match from Gabriel Chaves Arauj, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 singles while teammate Stutz claimed a 6-2, 6-2 win over Connor LaFavre at No. 5 singles. The match came down to Elliott, where the senior would drop his first set 6-4 but would come back 7-6, 6-0 at No. 3 singles to clinch the match for Ball State.
The Ball State men's tennis team will continue non-conference action at Wright State (Feb. 22) before returning back home for a doubleheader Feb. 27 against Anderson and Taylor University.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Players Mentioned
