Men’s Tennis Snaps Western Michigan's 35-Match MAC Win Streak

Friday, April 8

Muncie, Ind.

2 p.m.

Ball State University

Western Michigan University

Photo by: Ball State University Creative Services

Men’s Tennis Snaps Western Michigan's 35-Match MAC Win Streak

April 08, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's tennis team handed top-seeded Western Michigan its first Mid-American Conference loss in 35-straight league matches after posting a 5-2 take down over the Broncos on Friday afternoon at the Northwest YMCA.

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 9-8 (4-3 MAC) while the Broncos fell to 11-8 (7-1 MAC) with the loss.

It was a heated doubles point between these two long-time rivals. The Cardinals opened today's match on a mission taking courts one and three from the Broncos, earning the early 1-0 edge at the start of today's match.

Danilo Kovacevic and Chris Adams were the first twosome off the court registering a 6-4 decision over Western Michigan's top duo of Fynn Lohse and Arjun Honnappa.

WMU then evened doubles action by taking court No. 2 from BSU.

The Cardinals then answered with the deciding point on court three. Vince Orlando and Parrish Simmons had taken a quick lead early on over WMU's Rogan Pierce and Benjamin George. Pierce and George fought back to tighten the match 5-4 but Orlando and Simmons were able to stay atop of the Broncos twosome for the victory.

In singles, WMU would knot the match 1-1 after earning the win on court No. 6. Ball State would then go up 3-1 after tallying victories on courts three and two, respectively.

Newcomer Nathaniel Webster played at position three and would beat WMU's Lohse in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Kovacevic found himself in a three-set thriller after dropping the first frame to Peter Kuszynski 6-7 he fought back to take sets two and three, 6-3, 6-4.

With three courts remaining and the match on the line, Orlando came through for the Cardinals defeating George in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at the No. 5 slot clinching the winning point for Ball State.

Other winners today for the Cardinals were Thibault de Negri who took an exciting win on the top court over Anton Arzhankin.

The Ball State men's tennis team continues its two-match home stretch on Sunday against Northern Illinois. The match will be played outdoors at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center, weather permitting. First serve outdoors will be approxiamtely at 1:30 pm ET.