Going into its matchup with Northern Illinois on Saturday, the Ball State men's tennis team knew it would have a tough match.
The Cardinals would not only be playing the Huskies on their home court, but would be playing a team that recently beat their supposed biggest competition, Western Michigan, 5-2 in their Mid-American Conference opener.
By the end of match play on Saturday, the score showed Northern Illinois was too tough for Ball State to overcome as the Huskies defeated the Cardinals 6-1.
"It's a very disappointing loss for us," Ball State coach Bill Richards said. "We knew it was going to be a tough match, and it was one we came in planning on winning. There's not much positive we can take away from this match. You just put it behind you and move on."
Ball State began the match leading 1-0. Junior Dalton Albertin and freshman Ray Leonard defeated Dor Amir and Axel Lagerlof 8-3 in No. 1 doubles while seniors Derek Carpenter and Zane Smith won their No. 2 doubles match 8-2 over Maximilian Phillips and Frederic Cadieux.
The lead would be short lived for the Cardinals as the Huskies would win all six of their singles matches, four of which came in three sets.
"The pivotal time in the match was when Ray served for his match in the second set and couldn't close it out," Richards said. "Then Austin Sansone had just won the second set and if he comes back and wins that third set, all of a sudden the dynamic of the match changes because then there's some pressure on Northern Illinois. Overall, we had some guys play pretty good tennis that had nothing to show for it and we had some guys who didn't."
Ball State will travel to Chicago, Ill. tomorrow to play Chicago State. The match will begin at 9 a.m.
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