Before today’s match, Ball State (19-2, 7-0 MAC) were sitting in second place in the Mid-American Conference just above Miami (9-10, 4-2 MAC) in third. Today, the Cardinals put some breathing space between them and the Redhawks, winning 4-3.
The junior Redhawks pairing of Hannah Shteyn and Anastasiia Vasiukhina on court 2 beat the strong Cardinals partnership of sophomore Audrey Berger and junior Julia Sbircea 6-3.
Sophomore Isabelle Dohanics and senior Rosa Calderon made things level on court 3 as they claimed a 7-5 victory over another sophomore/senior team of Emily Struble and Andreea Badileanu.
It was all down to the match on court 1 which went to a tiebreak. In the end, it was the reigning MAC champions who came out on top, thanks to sophomore Peyton Gollhofer and senior Carmen Blanco beating junior Nelli Ponomareva and sophomore Anzhelika Shapovalova 7-6 (6).
Like the doubles, the momentum in the singles swung back and forth between the two teams.
LAST MAC GAME:
Home vs. Akron
1 p.m. April 22
Blanco kicked things off for Ball State with a 6-3, 6-1 win over her doubles opponent, Ponomareva. However, the Redhawks replied as Shteyn triumphed 6-3 7-5 over Berger, which meant her 100 percent singles record this season was broken.
Senior Rosalinda Calderon extended Ball State’s lead as she beat Vasiukhina 6-3, 7-6 (4) on court 6. But again, Miami pegged Ball State back as Ormond succumbed 6-4, 7-5 to Badileanu on court 3.
Then, on court 4, the Redhawks were finally level. Struble beat fellow sophomore Dohanics 6-4 7-6 (4), which meant the match was balanced at 3-3.
Court 2 was the stage for the final showdown in a match that was the only one to go to three sets. Gollhofer took the first set but her opponent, Shapovalova, won the second set in a tiebreak. And the momentum looked to be staying with Miami as Shapovalova led the Ball State sophomore 3-2 in the third set. However, Gollhofer turned things around and pulled out a 6-2 6-7 (3) 6-4 victory which gave Ball State another vital win for the season.
The Cardinals return home for the final regular season MAC game as they face off against Akron to decide who will claim top spot in this year’s championship.