Down 5-2 in the first set of the No. 1 singles match against Allysa Detroy from the University of Dayton Saturday, Sophie Quist could have allowed six months of shoulder tendonitis pain to wear her down to a frustrating defeat.
Instead, the sophomore came all the way back to win the first set in nine-point tiebreaker and cruised the rest of the way for a 7-6 (9), 6-3 victory against Detroy in the Ball State University women's tennis team's 6-1 season-opening victory against Dayton (0-2) Saturday.
"It's great having Soph back in there," Cardinals head coach Kathy Bull said. "She got down 5-2, hung right in there and turned things around. Having Sophie in there just puts us in the correct position and lets us be at our best."
The Cardinals (1-0) won the match by winning 95 total games to the Flyers' 45.
"It was nice to have a pretty convincing win in the first match of the season," said senior Jennifer Pollack, who won 8-4 with senior Haly Calderwood at No. 1 doubles before winning 6-3, 6-1 at No. 3 singles. "I was able to implement some of the strategies I had been working on in the offseason and recently in practice, which is always good to see the hard work pay off."
Going into the match, Bull said she thought it was also important for the team's two freshmen, Hayley Hall and Georgina Thomson, to get adjusted to the college dual match setting.
Both Hall and Thomson responded to their coach's challenge by winning a singles and doubles match.
"For [Hall and Thomson] to be successful in their first outing, that's awesome," Bull said. "I didn't see any nerves, and I thought they both settled themselves down and are both very coachable."
The team next plays on Wednesday against Wright State University at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 6-1 in last year's match.
"I am feeling confident about the match against Wright State on Wednesday," Pollack said. "Staying focused and having high energy will be keys against them since you can never predict what kind of points they will be playing."
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