Men's Tennis Loses To Purdue; Hosts Eastern Illinois Sunday

Saturday, January 21

West Lafayette, IN

12:00 PM

Ball State University

Purdue University

Photo by: Ball State Athletics

Men's Tennis Loses To Purdue; Hosts Eastern Illinois Sunday

January 21, 2017 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Ball State vs. Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Ball State men's tennis team (0-2) played its second-straight match on the road Saturday afternoon at Big Ten foe Purdue (1-0). The Cardinals put up a good fight but fell to the Boilermakers 5-2 at Basham Courts.

"After some poor doubles performances I thought we raised our level in singles," said Ball State head men's tennis coach Bill Richards. "We actually had chances to put more pressure on Purdue at 2 and 3 singles but lost some important points in pressure situations. Lucas Andersen continued his strong play with a win over the No. 49 player in the nation. Younger brother Conner Andersen had a good win too, so it was a good day for the Andersen's! Tomorrow will be a good test against Eastern Illinois who has a very talented team. I'm interested to see how we hold up physically playing three days in a row."

Marko Guzina and Patrick Downs lost the first doubles match after falling to Gergely Madarasz and Lucas Omer Dages by a score of 6-0. The Boilermakes then took the point from Ball State after posting a 6-1 win over Conner Andersen and Nemanja Guzina on court two.

During singles action, the Boilermakers picked up points on courts four, five and three to make it a 4-0 match and clinched the victory. The Boilermakers added a final singles win on court two where Ricky Medinilla edged Andrew Stutz in a three set thriller, 6-0, 3-6, 6-2. The Andersen brothers earned the Cardinals their two points today. Lucas Andersen won first pulling a three set upset over Purdue's Gergely Madarasz, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2). Conner Andersen then followed his older sibling with a three set victory over Dominik Sochurek, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

The Ball State men's tennis team will look to rebound from its losses and earn a victory at their home opener Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals host Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. in the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.