After a two month break from play, the Ball State University men's tennis team comes back to action this weekend to start its dual match season against the University of Illinois on Friday and Northwestern University on Sunday.
"The team feels good," junior Joe Vallee said. "You can tell that everyone worked hard over break. To play at a high level when the season starts is very important."
The Illini are ranked No. 8 in the Fila ITA Rankings, came in second in the NCAA tournament last season and have won 14 straight matches at home. Illinois currently has nationally ranked No. 7 Billy Heiser and No. 15 Ryan Rowe leading the team to its national recognition. Ball State has opened its dual match season with the Illini in five of the last six seasons.
"[A win] would be huge," coach Bill Richards said. "They are one of the premier clubs in the nation; we understand the difficultly to win there. In situations like these you just hope to string some wins together and pull away with something big."
Ball State heads back to Muncie on Sunday to battle Northwestern. It will be the first time the Cardinals have played at home since the Ball State Invitational on Sept. 14.
Northwestern is out to a 2-0 start with wins against the University of Illinois-Chicago and the University of Chicago so far this season. The Wildcats will face the Cardinals after playing the University of Louisville three days beforehand.
Vallee said starting the winter season against two talented opponents will show where the team stands coming off the break.
"It could potentially be a great start to the year or it could be a wake up call that we have to work harder," he said.
Recently the Cardinals, along with Western Michigan University, were picked by a Mid-American Conference coaches poll to win the conference's men's tennis championship this season.
But after a disappointing individual fall schedule, Richards said, the players used the mid-season break to improve on their individual needs and come together as a team to do well this winter.
"Everyone got a sense of where their level was in the fall and what they needed to work on," Richards said. "In these down months everyone knew where they were and hopefully where they need to be."
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