The University of Notre Dame has one of the best men's tennis teams in the country and it showed why against Ball State University.
The No. 20 Fighting Irish took care of the Cardinals 7-0 Monday afternoon at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.
"I thought the level of play was pretty good," coach Bill Richards said about Notre Dame. "They asserted themselves when they had too."
Senior Jorge Rodriguez was the only Cardinal to win a set at No. 5 singles. Rodriguez played a 10-point tiebreaker after the second set as the match had already been determined. Rodriguez lost 7-5, 5-7, 10-7.
At No. 1 singles, senior Jose Perdomo played Brett Helgenson - the No. 24 singles player in the nation - and lost 6-2, 6-3.
Sophomore Eduardo Pavia played the No. 124 singles player, Stephen Havens, at No. 2. Pavia lost the first set but broke out to a 5-2 lead in the second. Havens made a comeback and won the set 7-5.
The match with Notre Dame was a quick turnaround from the loss with Western Michigan University on Saturday. The Cardinals have played seven matches in a span of 18 days. That's a third of their season in two and a half weeks.
"I think it's great to get a match under our belt and move on from the Western Michigan match," Richards said. "It's now a physical thing, a lot of overuse. We had some guys pretty tired from the last few weeks. They competed pretty well."
Ball State is now 11-10 on the year. Its regular season finale is Saturday when Northern Illinois University comes to Muncie.
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