As Ball State finished up its doubles matchups with Butler on Thursday, senior Zane Smith found himself in a familiar position.
Like the Cardinals' past matchups with Illinois State and Army, Smith was counted on to close out a key point.
It was a back-and-forth battle for him and senior Derek Carpenter against a Butler tandem, but Smith's strong volleys and crosscourt forehand winners were too much. Smith and Carpenter won the No. 2 doubles match 9-8 (5) and clinched the first point of the match for Ball State.
"We came out a little flat in doubles," Smith said. "Then it was a matter of us having experience, knowing when we're playing bad, being able to feed off of each other and get a little bit of energy going towards the end and be able to pull it out."
As Ball State and Butler began singles competition, it looked as if the match would come down to the doubles point.
Junior Dalton Albertin, Smith and junior Alex Brym were pushed to tiebreakers in their respective matches at the No. 2, 3 and 4 positions. Sophomore Austin Smith was having his own troubles closing out his match with Billy Weldon at the No. 5 singles position.
It was turning into a dog fight for Ball State.
The Cardinals, however, would regain their composure and win five of the six singles matches. As a result, the Cardinals defeated the Bulldogs 6-1 and move their record to 14-6 on the season.
"It was the type of match I expected," Ball State coach Bill Richards said. "It was a pressure match for us; a match where everything to gain for them [Butler] and everything to lose for us. I knew it was a matter of handling some pressure. We didn't handle it very well in doubles, and we were lucky to squeak through and get that point. We're going to have to do better in those situations as the conference season unfolds."
Austin Smith was one player that handled the pressure very well.
Ball State was leading the match 3-0 and needed one point to seal a victory. Smith provided that winning point with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Weldon at the No. 5 singles position.
"Being the fourth point is definitely a confidence booster," Smith said. "The guys on the court that are still playing; it gives them more energy and confidence knowing that they can relax when they're playing. If they're tied or have a close match, they can just go out there and do their best because we've already won the match."
Richards said Ball State's win over Butler won't have a whole lot of bearing this weekend when it travels to Notre Dame
"It's just two different levels of competition," he said.
Richards, however, said both matches as a whole are key heading into the conference season.
"You want to finish the non-conference season on a high note," he said. "You want to play well and give yourself every chance to win, and you want to try to carry something in terms of confidence and momentum into the conference season."
Ball State will play Notre Dame at 11 a.m. on Saturday at the Eck Tennis Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
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