KALAMAZOO, Mich. – The Western Michigan men's tennis team started their road to defending the conference title in a nice way, defeating Ball State, one of the top teams in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), 5-2 at Sorensen Courts Friday afternoon.
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The Cardinals put the pressure on early in doubles, as Ball States No. 1 took down WMU's nationally ranked duo in the first match of the day. Bronco teams of Matt Hamilton/Billy Heckman and Jannik Opitz/Eric Olivarez battled back to clinch the doubles point and put WMU up 1-0.
WMU came out hot in singles, claiming the first three matches to clinch the match before Ball State was able to get a win. Maik Steiner won his third match in a row, defeating Nemanja Guzina 6-2, 7-5 to put the Broncos up 2-0 and Matej Svjetlicic made that 3-0 with a win at No. 3. Matt Hamilton served as the match clincher, defeating Lucas Anderson at No. 1 7-6 (10-8), 6-0 to give the Broncos the win in the MAC opener. Later in the match, No. 120 Kennosuke Nouchi earned a win at No. 2, taking down Andrew Stutz 5-3, 6-7 (5-7), 1-0.
The Broncos will stay home for the weekend, taking on Toledo on Sunday, March 26 at 1 p.m. The match will most likely be played at West Hills Athletic Club because of weather conditions.
