Men's Tennis Travels to Ball State Seeking Second Win of Season

Saturday, February 2

Muncie, Ind.

12 PM

Xavier University

Ball State

Men's Tennis Travels to Ball State Seeking Second Win of Season

01.30.19 | Men's Tennis

By: Brandon Eckman, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's tennis hits the road for its second away match of the season on Saturday, February 2, when the Musketeers face Ball State. The match with the Cardinals is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. in Muncie, Ind.

MATCH NOTES: BALL STATE

Ball State finished last season with a 14-11 record last season.
Xavier grabbed two singles wins against Ball State in the Louisville Invitational Oct 19-21.
The Cardinals defeated Xavier 4-3 last season on Feb. 2.
Ball State is 0-2 on the season thus far, falling to both Indiana and Michigan State.
The Musketeers and Cardinals both share early season losses against Michigan State.
Ball State placed fourth in the Mid-American Conference pre-season polls for the 2019 season.
Senior brothers Marko Guzina and Nemanja Guzina will look to lead the Cardinals this season. The Guzina brothers were both named 2018 All-MAC Second Team selections and are natives of Toronto, Canada.

UP NEXT

The Musketeers return to the road on Friday, February 8, when the Musketeers travel to Villanova. The match is set to begin at 6:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: BELMONT

In their last outing, the Musketeers fell, 6-1, to Belmont at the Eastern Hills Indoor Tennis Club.
Jan Vrba picked contributed to Xavier's only pair of wins, as he picked up a 5-2 doubles win at the No. 3 spot with partner Michael Lee. In singles play, Vrba picked up the only point for the Musketeers, winning the No.5 spot in three sets, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-7).
In doubles, Jack Dykema and Brett Winters fell 6-2 in the No.1 spot and teammates Connor LaFavre and Matthew Graft lost to the Bruins in the No. 2 spot, 6-3.
Dykema fell in the No. 2 singles spot despite forcing multiple tiebreakers in the third set after taking the 4-6 win in the second set to extend the match.
Winters fell, 6-2, 7-5, in the No. 1 singles spot
Graft was defeated, 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 3 spot and LaFavre fell in the No. 4 spot, 6-2, 6-4.

THE MUSKETEERS

Xavier's roster is deep with upper-classmen, with three seniors and two juniors. Returning seniors include Jack Dykema, Connor LaFavre, and Trent Smith. Juniors Matthew Graft and Michael Lee also return.
Sophomores Brett Winters and Jan Vrba return for the Musketeers.
Xavier also added freshmen Dominic Macaluso and Oliver Weaver.
Xavier is 1-2 so far this season.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS

Xavier opened the fall invitational tournament at the Greater Cincinnati Invitational at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Brett Winters posted a strong performance, sweeping the No. 1 flight. Overall, Xavier went 12-9 in singles play and won six doubles matches.
At the Dayton Hidden Duals, the Musketeers came away with team wins over two of the three teams, picking up dominant wins over NKU, 7-1 and Wright State, 6-1, while falling 7-2 to the Flyers.
Four Musketeers competed in the ITA Ohio Valley Regionals at Tennessee, with Jack Dykema and Brett Winters advancing to the round of 32 in the 128-person main draw. Connor LaFavre and Matthew Graft also competed in the main draw in both singles and doubles. In doubles, the pair took Vanderbilt's Ross and Srabert to five tiebreakers before falling narrowly.
Xavier closed the fall at the Louisville Invite, where the Musketeers collected 23 wins and had a competitor advance to the consolation final in all four singles flights.