MUNCIE, Ind. – The Toledo women's tennis team lost its first Mid-American Conference match of the season, 6-1 at Ball State on Sunday.

Sophomore Cassie Alcala won her match at No. 1 singles but it was the lone victory for Toledo (12-4, 2-1 MAC). Alcala captured a three-set match against Emma Peeler, but the Cardinals won three other three-setters to claim the victory over the Rockets, who were preseason co-favorites to win the MAC along with BSU.

Ball State took the doubles point with wins on the No. 2 and No. 3 courts. After Sloane Teske and Christina Fuller bowed out 6-4 on the No. 3 court, Alcala and Julia Kuszynski tied it up with a 6-3 victory on the top court. The Cardinals clinched the doubles point and a 1-0 match lead with a 6-3 victory on the No. 2 court.

Toledo was trailing 3-0 when Alcala secured the No. 1 court singles victory to pull the Rockets to 3-1. Both Sloane Teske and Shalini Tallamraju lost the first sets on their respective courts, came back to win their second sets, but ultimately fell in the final sets on the No. 2 and No. 4 courts. The Cardinals also won the final No. 5 court to give Ball State its 6-1 margin.

"We battled but we didn't have enough today," head coach Tracy Mauntler said. "The effort is always there with my squad. They taught me last year that losses like these motivate them quite a lot. Big things are coming for this team."

UT will head to Buffalo, N.Y. on Friday, April 1 for a 1:00 p.m. match in the UB Tennis Courts/ Miller Tennis Center. The Rockets will then be back in Toledo for a 1:00 p.m. match with Western Michigan on Sunday, April 3.

Toledo 6, Ball State 1
Doubles
1. Cassie Alcala/ Julia Kuszynski (TOL) def. Amy Kaplan/ Hannah Davies (BSU) 6-3
2. Livia Lukacs/ Jessica Braun (BSU) def. Patricia Panta/ Laura Morera (TOL) 6-3
3. Mariya Polishchuk/ Emma Peeler (BSU) def. Sloane Teske/ Christina Fuller (TOL) 6-4

Singles
1. Cassie Alcala (TOL) def. Emma Peeler (BSU) 6-4, 2-6, 6-1
2. Mariya Polishchuk (BSU) def. Sloane Teske (TOL) 6-3, 6-7, 6-2
3. Jessica Braun (BSU) def. Julia Kuszynski (TOL) 6-2, 6-0
4. Amy Kaplan (BSU) def. Shalini Tallamraju (TOL) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
5. Hannah Davies (BSU) def. Patricia Panta (TOL) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3
6. Elena Malykh (BSU) def. Eileen Carney (TOL) 7-5, 6-3