Recaps courtesy of Athletic Communications Departments
Ball State 5, Toledo 2
TOLEDO, Ohio — Ball State men's tennis downed Toledo Thursday afternoon in a 5-2 decision on the UT Varsity Tennis Courts. Paired with the Cardinals' March 7 victory against the Rockets, the triumph completes the season sweep of the Mid-American Conference foe—a feat that has not been accomplished since 2021.
The red and white advanced to 10-7 on the season and added its third win in MAC play, while Toledo fell to 9-7 and an even 3-3 mark in the conference.
Just as it did in its first match of the season series against the Rockets, Ball State opened the afternoon with a victory in doubles play. The Cardinals' No. 1 doubles pairing of Jacks Lancaster and Drew Hayward were the first off the court with a 6-3 win, and their teammates at second doubles, Mason Tran and Ian Brady, were not far behind with a 6-4 mark that secured the doubles point for the red and white.
After picking up a point-securing win at No. 2 doubles, Tran continued his fine play in singles. The senior from Irvine, Calif., cruised to a 6-1, 6-3 victory at the No. 3 singles position to put the Cardinals up 2-0.
Lancaster and Hayward, playing at the No. 2 and No. 4 spots respectively, each added straight-set wins to earn Ball State the decisive four points. Broc Fletcher, playing in his first match against a MAC opponent this season, battled in three sets to hang the Cardinals' fifth point of the outing.
Toledo earned its pair of scores at No. 1 and No. 5 singles. The top singles court provided the most tightly contested match of the afternoon, as the Rockets' Hanamichi Carvajal secured a marathon three-set win against the Cardinals' Nathaniel Webster.
Ball State will stay on the road for the remainder of the week as the red and white are set to travel to Buffalo for a Saturday-afternoon conference clash. First serve between the Cardinals and the Bulls is slated for 1 p.m.
Buffalo 4, Western Michigan 3
BUFFALO, NY – The University at men's tennis team continued their strong play as they battled to a 4-3 win over Western Michigan on Thursday afternoon at Miller Tennis Center. With the win, the Bulls improve to 5-1 in conference play.
The Bulls started strong, sweeping doubles action as Theodoros Mitsakos and Michael Malkin won 6-2 at second doubles, Daniils Snaiders and Cheng Tang picked up a 6-4 victory at the first position and Faiz Nasyam and Emiliano Jorquera followed with 6-4 win of their own at second doubles to give UB a 1-0 lead in the match.
Senior Clement Mainguy gave the Bulls their first point of singles action with a 6-3, 6-2 win at third singles and Nasyam overcame a dropped first set to win 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 at six singles. Tang then clinched the match at second singles as he rallied to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory.
Up next, Buffalo will close out the homestand on Saturday, March 29 as they host Ball State at Miller Tennis Center at 1pm.
