It was the most unexpected victory the Ball State men's tennis team has had all season.
Ball State knocked off Western Michigan 4-3 in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals Friday.
Western Michigan went undefeated in MAC play this season, going 5-0. Ball State, meanwhile, struggled to win close matches, going 2-3. The Broncos humbled the Cardinals in Muncie 7-0 on April 16.
The Broncos were named the preseason favorites to win the MAC while Ball State was predicted to finish third. The three conference losses caused Ball State to enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed.
That history did not matter Friday.
Ball State grabbed an early lead, winning the doubles point. Juniors Derek Carpenter and Zane Smith won at No. 2 doubles 8-6. Senior Shaun Bussert and sophomore Austin Sansone won at No. 3 8-5 to give the Cardinals the first point in the match.
The singles matches appeared to be in Western Michigan's favor at first as the Broncos took Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles in straight sets.
Sansone won at No. 6 singles 6-4, 6-2 to give Ball State its second point. Junior Andres Monroy rallied to win the second set 7-5 at No. 5 after losing the first set 6-2. Monroy got out to 3-0 lead in the third, but Casey Cullen tied it at 4. Monroy won the last two games for a 6-4 win.
Junior Cliff Morrison won his first set at No. 3 singles 6-4 but lost the second set 7-5. Morrison broke out to a 4-2 lead and won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 for the fourth point for Cardinals.
Sophomore Dalton Albertin played No. 1 singles despite being sick the past week. Albertin lost two tiebreakers in a 7-6, 7-6 loss to Michael Calderone, the winner of the most MAC player of the week awards this season.
Ball State will play Toledo in Kalamazoo, Mich., on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals will be going for their first NCAA appearance since 2005.
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