WMU wins Men's Tennis Title

FINALS

Doubles saw the Broncos earn the point with wins in the No. 2 and the No. 3 match. Ravishankar Pathanjali and Steve Pillon won the No. 2 match over Chris Varga and Nick Vizzone 8-4 for the first win of the day. That was followed by Jason Pressel and Edgardo Rivera of Ball State taking the No. 1 match over Ryan Maarschalk and Ryan Tomlinson 8-5. The doubles point then rested on the outcome of the No. 3 doubles match, between Christian Brattstrom /Fernando Garcia of Western Michigan and Michael Westerhof and Andrew Seni of Ball State. Brattstrom and Garcia came through for WMU, earning an 8-6 win to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.

The singles matches featured five singles matches that went the full three sets. Ball State took the No. 2 match when Westerhof beat Pillon 7-5, 6-2. All of the other matches contested would go to the full three sets. The Cardinals took the next two matches as well, when Rivera beat Tomlinson 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 3 match and Varga beat Maarschalk 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. At that point, Ball State led 3-1 with three matches left to play. WMU needed to win all three matches that were left in order win the match. The first match to finish was the No. 1 match, where Garcia beat Pressel 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 to cut the Cardinal lead to 3-2. Brattstrom was the next Bronco to win, taking the No. 6 singles match over Vizzone 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

With the overall match tied 3-3, the MAC tournament title rested on the outcome of the No. 4 match between Seni of Ball State and Pathanjali of Western Michigan. Seni took the first set 6-2, while Pathanjali won the second set 7-5. Pathanjali took control of the third set, leading the match 5-2 when he began cramping. Seni then won the next two games to cut the margin to 5-4. Pathanjali served at 5-4 to try and finish off the match. Hitting his serves with less power to conserve energy, Pathanjali took the game to win the match 2-6, 7-5, 6-4. The MAC newcomer of the year, Pathanjali's win was his 30th of the year in singles and his 17th in a row overall.

WMU will learn their NCAA tournament draw this Thursday when the pairings are announced.

WESTERN MICHIGAN 4, BALL STATE 3

SINGLES:
1. Fernando Garcia (WMU) def. Jason Pressel (BSU) 3-6, 7-6, 6-1
2. Michael Westerhof (BSU) def. Steve Pillon (WMU) 7-5, 6-2
3. Edgardo Rivera (BSU) def. Ryan Tomlinson (WMU) 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
4. Ravishankar Pathanjali (WMU) def. Andrew Seni (BSU) 2-6, 7-5, 6-4
5. Chris Varga (BSU) def. Ryan Maarschalk (WMU) 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
6. Christian Brattstrom (WMU) def. Nick Vizzone (BSU) 7-5, 5-7, 6-3

DOUBLES:
1. Presel/Rivera (BSU) def. Tomlinson/Maarschalk (WMU) 8-5
2. Pathanjali/Pillon (WMU) def. Barga/Vizzone (BSU) 8-4
3. Garcia/Brattstrom (WMU) def. Westerhof/Seni (BSU) 8-6

SEMIFINALS

Ball State won the No. 2 and No. 3 doubles matches to earn the point. Michael Westerhof and Andrew Seni combined to win the No. 3 match over Juan Barriga and Jon Perlman by the score of 8-3. Northern Illinois responded by winning the No. 1 match when Raymond vanWasbeek and Aaron Forsberg won 8-5 over Jason Pressel and Edgardo Rivera. The Cardinals then clinched the doubles point when Chris Barga and Nick Vizzone won the No. 2 match 8-6 over Juan Barriga and Tim Freesen.

BSU then won three singles matches to finish the match. Westerhof won the No. 2 match over Barriga 6-2, 6-1. The No. 5 match went to Barga, who defeated Perlman 6-1, 6-2. Vizzone won the other match for Ball State, taking the No. 6 match over Freesen 6-1, 6-3.

Although the final score was 4-0, NIU was leading in all three matches that were suspended. van Wasbeek was up on Pressel 6-2, 3-2 in the No. 1 match. Sitarski was beating Rivera in the No. 3 match 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 when play was stopped, and Forsberg was leading the No. 4 match over Seni 7-6, 0-0 .

Saturday's (April 28) championship match will take place at 1 p.m. at Sorensen Courts in Kalamazoo.

BALL STATE 4, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 0

SINGLES:
1. Raymond vanWasbeek (NIU) led Jason Pressel (BSU) 6-2, 3-2 (not finished)
2. Michael Westerhof (BSU) def. Juan Barriga (NIU) 6-2, 6-1
3. Brent Sitarski (NIU) led Edgardo Rivera (BSU) 6-4, 3-6, 2-1 (not finished)
4. Aaron Forsberg (NIU) led Andrew Seni (BSU) 7-6, 0-0 (not finished)
5. Chris Barga (BSU) def. Jon Perlman (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
6. Nick Vizzone (BSU) def. Tim Freesen (NIU) 6-1, 6-3
DOUBLES:
1. vanWasbeek/Forsberg (NIU) def. Pressel/Forsberg (BSU) 8-5
2. Barga/Vizzone (BSU) def. Barriga/Freesen (NIU) 8-6
3. Westerhof/Seni (BSU) def. Sitarski/Perlman (NIU) 8-3

SEMIFINALS

Bowling Green earned the doubles point by winning the No. 1 and No.3 match. WMU scored the first win in doubles, when the No. 2 team of Steve Pillon and Ravishankar Pathanjali defeated Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo and Vitek Wild by the score of 8-2. Bowling Green the responded winning the No. 3 match when Micael Lopez-Acevedo and Nick Moxley teamed up to win the No. 3 doubles match over Fernando Garcia and Christian Brattstrom 8-5. The doubles point then rested on the No. 1 match, which BGSU's Brandon Gabel and Geoff Hiscox pulled out in a tiebreaker 9-8 (5) over Ryan Tomlinson and Ryan Maarschalk.

Singles saw the tight play continue, as four of the six matches went the full three sets. Brattstrom of Western Michigan earned the first win of singles when he took the No. 6 match over Lopez-Acevedo by the scores of 6-1, 6-3. WMU's Pathanjali then went on to win the No.4 singles match over Moxley in straight sets 7-5, 6-3. Then Maarschalk gave Western Michigan a 3-1 overall lead with a 6-0, 3-6, 6-0 win over Mike Kossoff in the No. 5 match. Bowling Green responded by winning the next two matches. Hiscox took the tight No. 2 match over Pillon 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Wild then came through by winning the No. 1 match over Garcia. Wild came back after losing the second set 6-0 to post a 7-6, 0-6, 6-4 win.

The match then came down to the No. 3 singles match between N. Lopez-Acevedo and Tomlinson. Lopez-Acevedo led at one point by the score of 6-3, 4-1 before Tomlinson stormed back. Tomlinson came back to win the second set in a tiebreaker, then went on to get an early break of serve in the final set to take control. He went on to win the match 3-6,7-6, 6-3.

The MAC tournament championship match will take place on Saturday (April 27) at 1 p.m.

SINGLES:
1. Vitek Wild (BG) def. Fernando Garcia (WMU) 7-6, 0-6, 6-4
2. Geoff Hiscox (BG) def. Steve Pillon (WMU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
3. Ryan Tomlinson (WMU) def. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (BG) 3-6, 7-6, 6-3
4. Ravishankar Pathanjali (WMU) def. Nick Moxley (BG) 7-5, 6-3
5. Ryan Maarschalk (WMU) def. Mike Kossoff (BG) 6-0, 3-6, 6-0
6. Christian Brattstrom (WMU) def. Micael Lopez-Acevedo (BG) 6-1, 6-3

DOUBLES:
1. Brandon Gabel/Hiscox (BG) def. Tomlinson/Maarschalk (WMU) 9-8 (5)
2. Pathanjali/Pillon (WMU) def. N. Lopez-Acevedo/Wild (BG) 8-2
3. M. Lopez-Acevedo/Moxley (BG) def. Garcia/Brattstrom (WMU) 8-5

QUARTERFINALS

Doubles featured three tight matches. At one point, all three contests were tied 5-5. NIU came on at that point, managing to win the No. 2 and No. 3 matches. Juan Barriga and Tim Freesen won the No. 2 match over Dipesh Rao and Carlos Lomena by the score of 8-6. The Huskies then clinched the doubles point when Brent Sitarski and Jon Perlman pulled out the No. 3 match over Shi Jin and Kyle Ragan by the score of 8-6. The No. 1 match between Raymond vanWasbeek/Aaron Forsberg (NIU) and Pete Baghdati and Carlos Lomena (UT) was tied 7-7 when play was suspended.

Northern Illinois took control in the singles contests, winning three matches in straight sets. Barriga won the No. 2 match over Baghdait 6-2, 6-3. Perlman then won the No. 5 match 6-1, 6-4 over Shi Jin. Freesen won the No. 6 match 6-3, 6-1 over Zach Barden. Another match, the No. 3 contest between Sitarki of NIU and Carlos Lomena of UT was nearly complete when play was suspended. Sitarski led Lomena 6-3, 5-2 when play came to a halt. Toledo's Rao was leading the No. 1 match 7-5, 2-5 over vanWasbeek at the end of play.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS 4, TOLEDO 0

SINGLES:
1. Dipesh Rao (UT) led Raymond vanWasbeek (NIU) 7-5, 2-5 (not finished)
2. Juan Barriga (NIU) def. Pete Baghdati (UT) 6-2, 6-3
3. Brent Sitarski (NIU) led Carlos Lomena (UT) 6-3, 5-2 (not finished)
4. Aaron Forsberg (NIU) led Hector Arroyo (UT) 6-2, 4-4 (not finished)
5. Jon Perlman (NIU) def. Shi Jin (UT) 6-1, 6-4
6. Tim Freesen (NIU) def. Zach Barden (UT) 6-3, 6-1
DOUBLES:
1. vanWasbeek/Forsberg (NIU) tied with Baghdati/Lomena (UT) 7-7 (not finished)
2. Barriga/Freesen (NIU) def. Rao/Arroyo (UT) 8-6
3. Sitarski/Perlman (NIU) def. Jin/Ragan (UT) 8-6

QUARTERFINALS

Bowling Green took the No. 2 and 3 doubles matches to earn the doubles point. The first team to come home with a win was the duo of Micael Lopez-Acevedo and Nick Moxley. They defeated Tim Powell and Brent Persia 8-4 in the No. 3 match. Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo and Vitek Wild then won the No. 2 match over Justin Brtko and Dave Emihovich 8-4. Budi Susanto and Fery Kasiman of Buffalo were leading Brandon Gabel and Geoff Hiscox 8-7 at match point when their contest was suspended.

The Falcons then went on to win the No. 3, No. 5, and No. 6 matches to round out the victory. Moxley won the No. 3 match over Brtko 6-0, 6-2, while M. Lopez-Avecedo took the No. 5 match over Sean Kelley 6-1, 6-1. Mike Kossoff rounded out the win with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Powell.

The Mid-American Conference tournament will continue later on Thursday (April 26) with a match between the No. 4 seen Northern Illinois Huskies and the No. 5 seed Toledo Rockets. The match is set to get underway at 1 p.m.

BOWLING GREEN 4, BUFFALO 0

SINGLES:
1. Geoff Hiscox (BG) led Budi Susanto (UB) 6-4, 3-1 (not finished)
2. Fery Kasiman (UB) led Nicolas Lopez-Acevedo (BG) 6-4, 1-2 (not finished)
3. Nick Moxley (BG) def. Justin Brtko (UB) 6-0, 6-2
4. Brandon Gabel (BG) led Dave Emihovich (UB) 6-0, 4-1 (not finished)
5. Micael Lopez-Acevedo (BG) def. Sean Kelley (UB) 6-1, 6-1
6. Mike Kossoff (BG) def. Tim Powell (UB) 6-2, 6-2

DOUBLES:
1. Susanto/Kasiman (UB) led Gabel/Hiscox (BG) 8-7 (not finished)
2. N. Lopez-Acevedo/Vitek Wild (BG) def. Brtko/Emihovich (UB) 8-4
3. M. Lopez-Acevedo/Moxley (BG) def. Powell/Bren Persia (UB) 8-4