One year ago, Ball State suffered a heartbreaking loss in the second round of the Mid-American Conference Championships to Northern Illinois when Matt Laramore lost in three sets to Juan-Pablo Barriga.
On Saturday, Laramore, as a senior, was able to win a close match and delivered the Cardinals their 18th MAC Championship by scoring a close two-set win over Western Michigan's Jose Orozco and leading the Cardinals to a 4-3 win over the Broncos.
"I hope that will get rid of any demons that still linger from that loss," coach Bill Richards said. "And Orozco was the guy Patrick Thompson lost to in that very very controversial match in Kalamazoo last year where he was overruled on match point. So, I think there was a little justice done in both of those regards."
The match point against Thompson gave Western Michigan the regular season MAC title.
Things didn't start out well for the Cardinals (17-8, 4-0 MAC), as they dropped the doubles point, something they have done on rare occasions this year. The No. 25 duo of Matt Baccarani and Thompson defeated WMU's No. 56 Tommy Dennis and Brady Crosby 8-5. However, when Baccarani and Thompson won, the Cardinals had already dropped two 8-3 matches in doubles and lost the doubles point.
"I was very, very disappointed with our play in doubles," Richards said. "We didn't play very well. I don't know if we overemphasized the importance of this match, but we didn't handle it very well. I would compare it to a prize fight where you get knocked down in the first round and almost get knocked out, and then you fight back and stay in there."
Ball State righted the ship in singles , but not without some early struggles. Tony Epkey dropped his first set 6-0, while Klint Knable fell 6-2 moments later with the Cardinals needing four singles wins to score the victory.
"It was a little tenuous in at first in singles. We dropped two sets very quickly," Richards said. "Finally, we got back, and we took control of the match."
Baccarani was the first Cardinal to score a singles win, defeating Dennis 6-0, 6-4. His doubles partner Thompson also scored a quick win, beating Alejandro Staub 6-3, 6-3.
Paul Newman fell 6-2, 6-3 to Crosby to tie the score at 2-2.
Klint Knable then fought back after falling 6-2 in the first set to score two dominating 6-1 sets to defeat Alex Birchmeier and give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
Laramore and Epkey were the only ones left on the court. After dropping the first set 6-0, Epkey had fought back to win the second set 6-4 and force a third set against Tim Bradshaw.
"Tony did a great job after falling 6-0," Richards said. "He was huge for momentum. If he would have gotten blown out and lost pretty quickly, that would have done a lot for the morale of Western Michigan."
Laramore had taken the first set 7-5, and was again in a 5-5 tie with Orzoco. Laramore won the final two points and defeated Orzoco to give Ball State a 4-2 lead and the win.
"I didn't know," Laramore said. "I thought I was the deciding match, but I wasn't sure.
"It was a big match for me. I played that guy in the fall and lost to him in three sets; to beat him, that was even sweeter."
Laramore was also glad he got to beat the player who ended Ball State's hopes of a regular season title the year before.
"That's what makes it even sweeter," he said. "I'm sure Patrick wishes he was in my shoes, but I was happy to get his back so to speak."
Epkey fell to Bradshaw 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 in a manner of minutes.
The win ensured that the Cardinals would do no worse than share the title with Western Michigan, as Ball State is undefeated in the MAC with only one match remaining.
The title is the Cardinals' 18th in school history, the most of any Ball State sport. All 18 titles have come in the past 21 years, the first title coming in 1984. Richards led the Cardinals to all 18 titles.
"Well, every championship is special in its own way," Richards said. I can identify with every team championship team in a different way. This brings back a lot of memories.
"I told the team before the match 'you are not just playing for yourself, you're playing for everyone who was here before you. And that's a lot of responsibility, and you've got to accept that responsibility and get the job done."
Laramore, meanwhile, still doesn't feel like he has made up for his loss last year against Barriga.
"We still have some unfinished business to do," he said.
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