NORMAL, Ill. – Senior Jacob Wilson rallied back in his No. 3 flight to force a third set, but Ball State's Patrick Elliott secured the flight and the match for the Cardinals, 4-3, at the Gregory Street Tennis Courts Saturday afternoon.
The Redbirds came back from a 3-2 match deficient, but were unable to notch the fourth point to give them the victory over Ball State. Illinois State's Christoffer Greve continued his impressive freshman campaign with a singles win in his No. 6 flight over BSU's Collin Rigney, 6-1, 6-0, and paired with sophomore Dylan Steffens to nab the only doubles' victory for the Redbirds.
"We did as well as we could with the injuries we have on the team," said head coach Mark Klysner. "We showed a lot of character coming back in a lot of the matches. We didn't play the big points as well as they did, and the doubles definitely let us down because we are usually a lot stronger [there]."
As Klysner referenced, Illinois State (6-8, MVC 0-1) dropped the doubles point to begin Saturday's match. The Cardinals' (7-8) Lucas Andersen and Patrick Elliot defeated Redbird junior duo Jakub Eisner and Rolando Torrellas, 6-4, while senior Muddappa Appanervanda and sophomore Urh Krajnc Domiter battled in their No. 2 flight but were edged out, 7-5, by BSU's Ray Leonard and Rigney.
The Redbirds played better in their singles matches, with Greve, Torrellas, and junior Rodrigo Oliveira all recording victories in their respective flights. Greve's victory pushed his winning streak to a season-high four matches. Eisner, Krajnc-Domiter and Wilson all battled back from being down in their matches, but none were able to record the key fourth point.
"It was good to see [Torrellas] close out a match," said Klysner. "The rest of the guys were scrappy…they fought well."
The Redbirds will be back in action Sunday afternoon at the Gregory Street Courts to take on the Huskies of Northern Illinois starting at 1 p.m.
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