The top two competitors for Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Year went head to head as No. 69 Ball State secured the MAC title outright at the Muncie YMCA Indoor Tennis Center on Saturday when the Cardinals defeated Northern Illinois 5-2.
The Cards (18-8, 5-0 MAC) returned to normalcy in doubles after dropping the point to Western Michigan; the Cardinals swept doubles against the Huskies (11-9, 2-3 MAC).
"It was one of those matches, as I always say, we just have to take care of business," coach Bill Richards. "We're glad to have that behind us and get ready for the tournament."
The Cardinals continued their success in singles, taking four of the six matches, all in two sets. Matt Laramore, Tony Epkey, Paul Newman and Brad Rhodes all scored victories over their NIU counterpart.
NIU's Adam Ford scored a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kilnt Knable to give the Huskies their first point of the match, and only Willy Gali and Matt Baccarani remained.
"The only player who really struggled was Klint," Richards said. "He had the mindset we don't want to have and if everyone on the team had that mindset, we'd be in trouble.
"I think it was a situation where his opponent did play very well and Klint wasn't ready to play that match, but of the nine matches we played, that was the only one where I felt that way."
Gali and Baccarani, who both were named to First Team All-MAC last season, are considered the only candidates for the MAC Men's Tennis Player of the Year. Gali and Baccarani battled, with Baccarani taking the first set 7-6 (7-4). In the second set Gali fought back, winning 6-2, forcing a third set tiebreaker.
Gali was able to earn his 19th straight victory by taking the tiebreaker 10-7.
"They [will] most likely see each other next Friday," Richards said.
The Cardinals will face the winner of Northern Illinois and Toledo in the second round on Saturday.
"We're fairly confident it will be Northern Illinois," Richards said. "Hopefully be a rematch [of Gali and Baccarani] there on Friday."
The win secured the MAC title outright for the Cardinals, and in deciding fashion. The Cardinals went undefeated throughout the MAC season for the 16th time in school history.
The win also gave Richards a shot at earning his 500th win in the MAC tournament as he enters the tourney with 498 wins and two matches ahead of him.
"We have to be ready," Richards said. "We have to get through Friday to get to Saturday. We didn't do that last year."
"Our goals remain the same every year," he said. "One of our goals was to have a winning record against the Big 10, and we have that. Our second goal was to win the regular season title and then win the MAC tournament and get into the NCAAs and our fourth goal is to not only get into the NCAA tournament. That's what our goals have been and are. We have achieved two of the goals, so now we have two left."
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
