Jon Perlman felt he was the reason the NIU men’s tennis team did not win Saturday.

In the 4-0 loss to Ball State in the semi-finals in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, the junior said it was mainly his fault the Huskies’ season ended.

Perlman said the reason it was his fault was because the duo of Brent Sitarski and himself lost in the No. 3 slot, causing the Huskies to lose all momentum heading into the singles competition.

The No. 1 duo of Raymond Van Wasbeek and Aaron Forsberg defeated their opponents 8-5.

“It all falls down to the doubles point,” Perlman said. “It is really hard to take. Had I come to play, which I clearly didn’t, we would have won the doubles point, and then all we would have needed was three more points to win. It hurts a lot. I feel horrible.”

The Huskies (14-11 overall, 2-3 MAC) were up in three of the singles matches, and with the doubles point, the Huskies would have won and faced eventual MAC Champion, Western Michigan.

The Huskies were leading at the No. 1 slot, with Raymond Van Wasbeek leading 6-2, 3-2. Sitarski was leading at the No. 3 slot, 6-4, 3-6, 2-1, and Aaron Forsberg was leading 7-6, 0-0.

“We played well even though the final score doesn’t necessarily indicate it,” NIU head coach Steven Rodecap said. “We had three guys leading their matches when play was stopped. Ball State was just better than us today, but we took a step in the right direction.”