Ball State University
Illinois State University
Men’s Tennis Loses Heartbreaking 4-3 Match To Illinois State
February 09, 2020 | Men's Tennis
MUNCIE, Ind. - After a grueling doubles competition to give Ball State the early 1-0 lead over Illinois State, it came to no surprise that the match would come down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Cardinals (4-3), the Redbirds (7-5) would take the last four points of the competition to seal their 4-3 victory today.
Today's doubles point all came down to the No. 1 duo of Chris Adams and Vince Orlando and they delivered for the Cardinals. After a long hard fought match, Adams aced his serve, making the score 7-6 (10-8) to clinch the doubles point over Illinois State's Aleska Lazarevic and Diego Emilio Moura Herrera. Ball State has taking the doubles point over its respective opponents six of its seven matches this season. The Redbirds won court three first 6-1 fairly easily in the opening minutes of doubles action but the Cardinals returned the favor at the No. 2 slot with Thibault de Negri and Parrish Simmons' 6-1 victory over Diego Le Gal Perez and Melker Isaakson.
The Cardinals pushed their lead to 2-0 fairly quickly after de Negri only gave up one game after cruising past Herrera, 6-0, 6-1. Ball State took first frame wins on courts four and five while dropping the first sets to Illinois State on the remaining three positions. After an exhausting doubles competition for Orlando he unfortunately fell to the Redbirds Diego Le Gal Perez at the No. 3 spot. Ball State held onto a 2-1 lead for a while before Simmons took down Jorge Adair Bartra Quispe by a 7-5, 6-4 decision at No. 4.
With three courts remaining, all in third sets, Illinois State took the wins on courts six and five in that order to knot the match, 3-3. The victory would come down to the top court, after Adams dropped the first frame 6-3 he fought back to win the second 6-2. Adams would go on to lose the three set thriller to Pol Botifoll Rius, 6-2.
The Ball State men's tennis team continues spring action at home Friday when it hosts Cleveland State at 2 p.m. in the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.
For the most up-to-date news on the Ball State men's tennis team, please follow @BallStateSports and @BallStateMTNS.
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
3,2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
2,3,4,6,5,1
Players Mentioned
