The men's tennis team is back on the road again Wednesday against Notre Dame. Head coach Bill Richards said starting with the match against the Fighting Irish this week represents an important stretch for the Cardinals.
Last year the Fighting Irish were ranked in the top 10 when the two teams met, and the Cardinals lost 4-3. This year Notre Dame enters the match at No. 55 in the nation and own a losing record of 6-11. Of the 17 matches the Irish have played this year, 15 were against ranked teams. The Irish won four of the matches.
Richards said some of this inconsistency is due to the loss of several seniors from the Notre Dame lineup.
"They lost a lot to graduation last year, so this is a bit of a rebuilding year. They had four seniors last year, which is a huge amount in our sport," he said. "This has been somewhat of a rebuilding year for them, but they are always a good team and especially good at home."
Notre Dame is the seventh ranked team Ball State has played. Richards said this would help the team against Mid-American Conference competition in the last few matches of the season.
"I like when this match is scheduled,"he said. "Obviously, we want to do everything we can to win this match against a higher-ranked team, but the other thing we hope to accomplish with that match is play a real good team to get us ready for the next couple weeks and the important matches we have in the conference."
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