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MEN'S TENNIS: Ball State plays tough tripleheader this weekend

Army, Air Force, Lipscomb headline three matches

Since the start of the season, the Ball State men's tennis team has dealt with overcoming adversity.

The cause of this adversity lies in the team's overall depth. At the beginning of the fall season, the Cardinals were expecting to have 11 players on the roster. With injuries to key seniors and one player transferring for personal reasons, the team hasn't been at full strength.

Despite all of the adversities put in front of them, Ball State got its biggest win of the season on Sunday when it defeated Illinois State by a score of 4-3.

Junior Dalton Albertin said the win is big for the team going into its weekend matchups with Army, Air Force and Lipscomb.

"That was very big," he said. "It was a good, close win. The first real, real close match that we've had and we were able to pull through. Losing to them last year and beating them this year was a little bit of redemption, which was nice. We have a pretty big weekend coming up, so hopefully we can use the confidence that we got from the win against Illinois State and turn it over to this weekend."

Ball State may need extra stamina to go along with its confidence this weekend. In the past three weekends, the Cardinals have played in six matches.

"It's very important that we are as ready to go from a physical standpoint as we can be," Ball State coach Bill Richards said. "That varies from individual to individual. Some guys are a little more beat up than others. For guys who have some nagging injuries or are still pretty sore from the weekend, we'll back off of those guys a little bit."

Senior Andres Monroy is one player Richards will back off on a little bit. Monroy made his season debut on Sunday against Anderson after being out with a hip injury.

"[Monroy's] not ready to play yet," Richards said. "Once he is ready to play at the level he is capable of, that's when he'll get a chance to get back in. If he starts beating guys in practice, then we'll know that he's getting back to the level where he can get back in there and help us in tough match situations.

"When that happens, he'll be a very big benefit. He's been a consistent performer for us for three years. If we get him back at that compete level that just gives more added depth on our team."

Richards said Monroy has already been a big contributor to the team despite the injury.

"He's doing a great job right now in terms of leadership," he said. "He's at practice every day and he's kind've like my third coach on court during matches."

Winning the doubles point has also been a huge contributor to Ball State. During its current six-game winning streak, Ball State has won the doubles point every time.

Freshman Ray Leonard said it's so big that its one of the keys to success this weekend.

"Everybody has different stuff they need to work on, but I think we're definitely going to come out of it with the mindset in these matches over the weekend that we need to get the doubles point," he said. "That's such a momentum booster and I think that one of our priorities is going to be doubles this week in practice."

Leonard also said the bottom of the lineup will be significant in Ball State's weekend performance.

The 4, 5, 6 have really come through," he said. "So I think if they can continue to put pressure on our opponents and test us at the top spot, I think that is going to be a key for victory."

Ball State will play Army at noon on Saturday and begin its match with Air Force at 5 p.m. It will then finish play with Air Force on Sunday at 9 a.m. and play Lipscomb at 10 a.m. All matches will be played at Dayton, Ohio.


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