With a new season for the Ball State University men's tennis team set to begin next month, coach Bill Richards has a solid foundation of returning players to build off this year. The Cardinals bring back first team All-Mid-American Conference player Eduardo Pavia who will be entering his junior season.
"When your top guy is back, that's something you can build around, so that's a good starting point." Richards said.
Sophomore Cliff Morrison received MAC second team honors last season giving the Cardinals two of the best returning players in the conference. Ball State lost their two senior leaders to graduation in Jorge Rodriguez and Jose Perdomo. They also received All-MAC honors, meaning whoever replaces them will have big shoes to fill.
The bulk of this year's squad consists of juniors and sophomores, a big improvement over the freshmen dominated team from last season. Ball State was able to recruit three freshmen this year with two coming from Indiana and the other from Georgia.
Austin Sansone and Dalton Albertin are both from Indianapolis high schools and have been competing against each other for state championships. Now they are on the same team. The freshmen are not expected to make a huge impact right away, but may be able to see some playing time.
"They are capable of contributing," Richards said. "It's a solid class with potential."
The Cardinals will have their first practice of the fall season today, with their first tournament in Milwaukee on Sept. 18. Richards has the entire fall season to come up with a singles play line-up for the dual match season in January. The Cardinals compete as a team and not individually like in the fall.
"It would be a tentative line-up that we would have made after the fall," Richards said. "The line-up would be based off of the fall season and last year. It would be subject to change once the dual-match season starts."
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