Statement matches have come often this season for the Ball State University women's tennis team. But so far, the Cardinals have fallen flat at each opportunity, unable to prove that they can be a consistently-winning team.
The match against Bowling Green State University on Friday afternoon was no different.
Ball State lost its Mid-American Conference opener at the Muncie Northwest YMCA Tennis Center by a score of 6-1, dropping its overall record to 6-8.
"The score obviously doesn't really represent the way the match went on paper," coach Amy Behrman said. "We put a really good hard fight up out there. Unfortunately, we just weren't able to execute and finish it off."
Sophomore Kylee Johnson was the only one that had much success on the day for Ball State. Johnson and Katherine Rist claimed the only doubles victory for the team, winning 8-6 against Bowling Green's Katia Babina and Jade Johnson.
Later on, Johnson earned a three-set victory in the No. 4 singles match over Maddy Eccleston (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) and won the only point on the day for Ball State.
There were few other positives to take away from the match for the Cardinals, but they will have a quick chance to redeem themselves. Ball State continues play against MAC opponents at 1 p.m. today at the Cardinal Creek Tennis Center against Western Michigan University.
"I hope we can just come out with some fire, wake up and believe in ourselves," Behrman said. "I know we can compete with these teams. We're not the same team we were last year."
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