Ball State University Athletics
Men’s Tennis Opens Fall Play at WMU/Vredevelt Invitational
September 26, 2026 | Men's Tennis
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Ball State men's tennis team competed at the WMU/Vredevelt Invitational this weekend which began Friday morning and ended Saturday afternoon at Sorenson Courts. The Cardinals faced competitors from Butler, DePaul, Gonzaga, Marquette along with host Western Michigan.
"A growing and learning weekend for the Cardinals," Ball State men's tennis coach Gene Orlando said. "We have worked to do and look forward to making team strides in the upcoming weeks."
Although the Cardinals struggled on the opening day of the tournament there were a lot of matches where the outcome could have gone either way. In singles, Jeremy Milette tallied a straight set singles victory on Friday over host Western Michigan's Alex Antonopoulos, 6-2, 6-3 and then garnered another singles victory after defeating Butler's Nicholas Balthazor, 6-1, 6-2. Anthony Shalakov earned a 6-3, 6-4 win versus the Bulldogs Arnesh Singh, 6-3, 6-4 while Jenson Bicanic rounded out the singles wins on opening day defeating Gonzaga's James Hutchinson, 6-3, 6-4. Nolan Hayward paired up with teammate Zach Kimelman to capture a 6-4 defeat against DePaul's twosome of Bernardo Vialle and Augusto Pardo.
Saturday saw Drew Hayward and Shalakov tally a 7-6 (2) doubles win against Butler's duo of Nicholas Shirley and Alex Borbiu. Milette alongside Maksym Ivashko beat Marquette's Clayton Anderson and Kristian Blagoev, 6-3 and Nolan Hayward ended the final day winning a two framer by a score of 6-2 in both sets to Butler's Alex Borbiu.
The Ball State men's tennis team will return to fall action on Oct. 8 when the Cardinals compete at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Ohio Valley Regional in College Grove, Tenn.
