KALAMAZOO -- The Western Michigan men's tennis team jumped out to a comfortable early advantage, but Ball State stormed back to stun the Broncos, 4-3, at Sorensen Courts on Saturday afternoon in a match just under four hours in front of the largest home crowd of the season. The outdoor match was played under sunshine in sustained winds of 20 miles per hour, including gusts up to 29 mph.
The Broncos (16-9, 1-2 MAC) won the doubles point by sweeping the Cardinals (14-7, 2-0 MAC) beginning with an 8-1 win at No. 2 by junior Kazuya Komada and sophomore Zeyad Montasser. Brothers Michael and Thomas Calderone clinched the doubles point by handing Eduardo Pavia and Dalton Albertin only their fifth loss of the season at No. 1, 8-6. Junior Casey Cullen and sophomore Pablo Olivarez won their third in a row with an 8-5 victory at No. 3. Cullen and Olivarez won eight of the final 10 games after trailing, 3-0, to begin.
WMU kept up the pressure by winning the first set in five of the six singles matches, but Ball State tied the score, 1-1, as Pavia bounced back to defeat Komada at the top position 6-2, 6-1 in the first match to finish.
The Broncos had multiple opportunities to put another point on the board, but the Cardinals saved multiple match points at No. 4 as the highlight of extending four matches to a third set.
Michael Calderone was the first to fall as Cliff Morrison took advantage of a cramping Calderone late in the third set to win at No. 2 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8) and give Ball State the lead, 2-1.
Shaun Bussert was the next player to bounce back after being handed a bagel in the first set by defeating the Broncos' Montasser 0-6, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 6.
Freshman Simon Blomberg kept hope alive for the Broncos by handing Albertin another loss with a 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 5 on his 20th birthday, but less than five minutes later Olivarez fell at No. 3 to Andres Monroy 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 for the Cardinals' decisive fourth point.
Cullen closed out the scoring and finished 2-0 on the day by outlasting Alex Brym 6-2, 6-7 (7), 6-3 at No. 4 singles.
The Broncos have a pair of matches next week as they head to Michigan State (11-10, 0-6 Big Ten) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. and return to Kalamazoo to face Northern Illinois (9-8, 0-1 MAC) on Friday at 3 p.m.
Ball State 4, Western Michigan 3
Apr 10, 2010 at Kalamazoo, Mich. (Sorensen Courts)
| Singles competition |
| 1. Eduardo Pavia (BSU) def. Kazuya Komada (WMU) 6-2, 6-1 |
| 2. Cliff Morrison (BSU) def.
Michael Calderone (WMU) 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) |
| 3. Andres Monroy (BSU) def. Pablo Olivarez (WMU) 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 |
| 4. Casey Cullen (WMU) def.
Alexandre Brym (BSU) 6-2, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3 |
| 5. Simon Blomberg (WMU) def.
Dalton Albertin (BSU) 6-3, 6-3 |
| 6. Shaun Bussert (BSU) def. Zeyad Montasser (WMU) 0-6, 6-1, 7-5 |
| Match Notes |
| Ball State 14-7, 2-0 MAC |
| Western Michigan 16-9, 1-2 MAC |
| Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3);
Singles (1,2,6,5,3,4) |
| T-3:48 A-121 |
