Men’s Tennis Begins New Era Under Head Coach Gene Orlando

Photo by: Bobby Ellis (Ball State Creative Services)

Men’s Tennis Begins New Era Under Head Coach Gene Orlando

September 25, 2025 | Men's Tennis

MUNCIE, Ind. - The Ball State men's tennis team will begin a new era this weekend as they compete in its first fall tournament under the direction of first-year head coach Gene Orlando. The Cardinals will participate in the James O'Connell Memorial Tournament this weekend which will take place at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.

A total of nine teams including Ball State will be participating in the tournament along with Butler, Dayton, Forman, IU Indy, Lipscomb, Northern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech and Xavier.

The tournament begins at 9:30 am ET with 16 doubles matches followed by a 10:30 am ET first serve for 22 singles matches. At noon 10 more singles competitions will be played with the second round of matches beginning at 12:30 pm ET.

Ball State returns five players from last year's squad, Jenson Bicanic, Broc Fletcher, Drew Hayward, Jacks Lancaster, and Anthony Shalakov along with welcoming five newcomers, Andrei Caragea, Nolan Hayward, Zack Kimelman, Jeremy Milette, and