Men's Tennis Suffers Defeat At Ball State, 4-3

Feb. 15, 2003

MUNCIE, Ind. - Michigan State's eight match winning streak came to an end Saturday (Feb. 15) as the unranked Ball State Cardinals upset the No. 66 Spartans, 4-3. BSU (5-2 overall, 0-0 MAC) took four singles matches against MSU (8-1 overall, 0-0 Big Ten) after dropping the doubles point.

The duo of junior Eric Simonton (Annandale, N.J.) and sophomore Cameron Marshall (Louisville, Ky.) stayed undefeated at No. 1 doubles as they beat Matt Baccarani and Kevin Burnett, 8-6. They now are 4-0 at the position and 9-3 for the year. Junior Chris Mitchell (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and sophomore Josh Efros (West Bloomfield, Mich.) teamed up for the first time this season and grabbed a victory over Klint Knable and Brad Rhodes at No. 3, 8-5. It also gave the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

With two of MSU's top players, senior Jimmy McGuire (Columbus, Ohio) and sophomore Andrew Formanczyk (Rochester Hills, Mich.), sidelined with injuries, Ball State took advantage, taking four of six singles matches for the 4-3 win. Marshall stayed hot in dual match play, though, as he was victorious at No. 2 singles over Baccarani, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. He moved to 7-1 this spring and leads State with 15 wins. Senior Goran Topalo (Prague, Czech Rep.) also continued to shine in singles play. Topalo picked up a win at No. 4 singles by defeating Matt Laramore, 7-6(5), 6-2. He improved to 7-0 record after sitting out the fall with injuries.

Michigan State returns to action when No. 43 Notre Dame invades East Lansing Wednesday (Feb. 19). The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.

Saturday's Results Against Ball StateDoublesNo. 1 Marshall/Simonton (MSU) def. Baccarani/Burnett (BSU) 8-6No. 2 Thompson/Varga (BSU) def. Hourani/Topalo (MSU) 8-3No. 3 Efros/Mitchell (MSU) def. Knable/Rhodes (BSU) 8-5
SinglesNo. 1 Chris Varga (BSU) def. Chris Mitchell (MSU) 6-4, 6-2No. 2 Cameron Marshall (MSU) def. Matt Baccarani (BSU) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3No. 3 Kevin Burnett (BSU) def. Eric Simonton (MSU) 7-6(3), 6-3No. 4 Goran Topalo (MSU) def. Matt Laramore (BSU) 7-6(5), 6-2No. 5 Klint Knable (BSU) def. Adam Hourani (MSU) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3No. 6 Patrick Thompson (BSU) def. Mike Brown (MSU) 6-3, 6-2Ball State defeats No. 66 Michigan State, 4-3

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Players Mentioned

Mike Brown