No. 1 Ball State 4, No. 4 Buffalo 2
Boxscore
MUNCIE, Ind. - Junior Emily Desai's three-set singles win on court six clinched a 4-2 victory for the top-seeded Ball State women's tennis team over fourth-seeded Buffalo Saturday afternoon in the semifinal match of the 2022 Mid-American Conference Tournament at Cardinal Creek Tennis Center. 
 
This makes the third time in program history Ball State has made it to the MAC Tournament Championship match. All three appearances have been under current head coach Max Norris. The Cardinal lone tournament title win came in 2016. 
 
The Cardinals set the tone early in the match by taking the doubles point from the Bulls after winning on courts three and two, respectively.  The No. 3 duo of Livia Lukacs and Jessica Braun did not give up a game to Gabriella Akopyan and A. Karademitrou defeating the Bulls, 6-0. The Ball State No. 2 doubles tandem of Emma Peeler and Mariya Polishchuk then clinched the doubles point with a 6-2 decision over UB's Ambre Amat and L. Schietekat Sedas. 
 
Buffalo regained composure in singles to tie the match after a straight set victory at No. 4 slot. Lukacs then answered for the Cardinals with a straight set take down versus the Bulls M. Torres at position No. 5 registering 6-2, 6-4 victory to give Ball State back its lead, 2-1. 
 
With four courts still in play, Amy Kaplan would win 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 3 slot to make the score 3-1. Braun would then drop her match on court No. 2 which made the score 3-2. 
 
The win would come down to the last two courts which were both in three set thrillers, fortunately for the Cardinals Emily Desai rallied back to take the third frame earning match point for Ball State after her 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 defeat over Torres.
 
The top-seeded Ball State Cardinals will face either the No. 2 seed Miami RedHawks or the No. 3 seed Toledo Rockets at 12 pm ET Sunday afternoon at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center.