The Ball State University men's tennis team wanted to gain experience for its younger players this weekend, but it wasn't the type of experience it wanted Friday.
Ball State was on the short end of the stick on several third-set tiebreaking matches during the Ball State Fall Invitational causing some quick exits on Ball State's roster. The close defeats were the downfall of the two sophomore defending singles champions Eduardo Pavia and Shaun Bussert before they reached the quarterfinals this year.
"Overall we lost a lot of matches against players we need to beat if we are going to be the team that we want to be," coach Bill Richards said.
Ball State entered the home invitational of 17 schools with a squad of five freshmen and two sophomores. The two seniors - Jose Perdomo and Jorge Rodriguez - participated in a tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
After Friday's action only freshman Jon Wegener was left standing for Saturday's quarterfinals in the C division.
"Jon Wegener was a bright spot," Richards said. "He won two matches in the main draw and won the C division doubles championship with a player from Marquette because we had an imbalance of players on our teams."
Wegener is from the Muncie area, as he attended Heritage Hall Christian.
"[The shared doubles title] is definitely a boost of confidence," Wegener said. "Every match you play gains you more confidence."
After Friday's disappointment, the Cardinals responded in consolation matches as Pavia teamed up with freshman Andres Monroy and came away with a consolation doubles title in the A division.
Freshmen Dave Thomas and Derek Carpenter came away with the consolation doubles title for the B division.
The players will try to carry on their success into the Notre Dame Invitational next weekend.
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