On Tuesday the Ball State University men's tennis team fell 7-0 to No. 6 University of Notre Dame. Ball State is now 9-11 on the season. But even though the team lost, coach Bill Richards said he wasn't too upset.
"It's done and over with," Richards said. "We got beat pretty soundly by a pretty good team, and now we just put that behind us and focus on our conference match Saturday."
Jose Perdomo was closest to beating his opponent, Notre Dame's Brett Helgeson, 7-6, 7-6. He said he felt like his match against Helgeson was a great opportunity to play a high-level opponent.
"I feel great after playing Notre Dame," Perdomo said. "It was a great opportunity for me to play a pretty good player. How much better can you get than the seventh team in the nation?"
The Cardinals were happy to return home after a month of being on the road, and Perdomo said the home crowd atmosphere was encouraging. This was the first outside match Ball State has played at Cardinal Creek Tennis Center.
"It feels great to be home," Perdomo said. "I like being at home. [Tuesday's] crowd was loud, sometimes, which helped."
Richards and Perdomo both looked at the match as a great opportunity to play a ranked team. Richards said that the match helped get the team ready for the match against conference foe Western Michigan University.
"I think it definitely was a positive in terms of preparation," Richards said. "We looked at it, as a team, to play one of the best teams in the nation at home, and to give us an opportunity, both individually and as a team, to give ourselves an opportunity to try to get a good win."
Ball State's No. 1 singles player Joe Epkey was defeated, 6-2, 6-2, by Stephen Bass. Notre Dame's Sheeva Parbhu defeated Aaron Phillips in two sets, 6-0, 6-1. Jarrod Epkey in the No. 4 singles position for the Cardinals lost to Graham King, 6-1, 6-2. Bret Berryman moved up to the No. 5 singles spot for the Cardinals but was also defeated by his opponent Ryan Keckley, 2-6, 6-3 (11-9).
"We played OK in a couple spots, and not too well in a couple spots," Richards said. "To see that level of competition definitely is a benefit and raises our level of play."
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