In Mid-American Conference action in Toledo today, Ball State women's tennis fought defeated Toledo to earn a 5-2 victory.
The Toledo Rockets (8-11, 0-6 MAC) have had little luck so far in the MAC and Ball State (18-2, 6-0 MAC) felt the full force of a team doing everything in its power to turn its MAC season around.
This was the tone that defined the entire match and it showed right from the off. On court 2, sophomore Audrey Berger and junior Julia Sbircea claimed the first match for Ball State as they won 6-3 against Toledo sophomore Claire Aleck and junior Megan Miller.
At one point, both Cardinal teams on courts 1 and 3 were down 2-5. Senior Toni Ormond and sophomore Isabelle Dohanics on court 3 succumbed to a 6-3 loss to Rockets junior Sidnay Huck and junior Colleen O’Brien.
It was a different outcome on court 1 though. Sophomore Peyton Gollhofer and senior Carmen Blanco fought back and had to settle for a tiebreak in the end. Luckily for the reigning champions, the team came out on top over the freshman pairing of Dee Dee Leenabanchong and Mimi Kendall-Woseley 7-6 (6).
Next match:
Where: Oxford, Ohio
When: Friday
Time: 1 p.m.
Opponent: Miami
The singles matches were tightly contested like the doubles and Toledo got off to an ideal start.
On court 2, Gollhofer was defeated 6-3 6-4 by Huck, making the match level at 1-1. Then, a 7-6 (5) 6-0 win for Berger over Aleck on court 6, which was almost immediately followed up by a 6-4 6-2 victory for Dohanics on court 5 against Miller, put Ball State 3-1 up overall.
However, the tide turned once more as freshman Rebecca Herrington couldn’t capitalize on winning the first set and lost 6-4 1-6 3-6 to Leenabanchong, making it 3-2.
Courts 1 and 3 both went to three sets. Fortunately for Ball State, they both ended in victories which extended its win streak to 13 games. Ormond bounced back from losing the second set and clinched the tie for Ball State by winning 6-4 3-6 6-3 against O’Brien.
Blanco was forced to go the long way around after losing the first set to Kendall-Woseley. But, she raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set and went on to win 4-6 6-4 6-2.
The result solidifies Ball State’s place in the MAC tournament.