In spite of Ball State beating Toledo 4-3 in its previous matchup on Apr. 12, coach Bill Richards said he was not happy with how the team began the match.
Richards' attitude towards the men's tennis team was much different yesterday as they defeated the Rockets 4-0 in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
"Every match was a hard fought match," Richards said. "The scores are certainly are indicative of whole match. It was a real battle. Once again, we were able to win close matches and come back in situations where we were down. We showed a lot of toughness and heart."
Richards said he was especially happy with the focus and energy level Ball State showed, something Richards thought it lacked in its previous matchup with Toledo.
"It was great," he said. "If you can't bring energy to the conference tournament, then you obviously have a problem. The focus, energy and fight were there."
Freshman Ray Leonard was one player that showed a lot of fight. After dealing with an abdominal pull in recent weeks, Leonard clinched the victory for the Cardinals after defeating Tomas Stillman 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in No. 1 singles.
"It was the type of match where it could've gone either way," Leonard said. "I feel like it came down to who was going to win the big points. I think my level of play was pretty consistent throughout the match, and I'm thankful I was able to win a few key points and pull out the victory."
Junior Dalton Albertin and freshman Patrick Elliott also won their respective singles matches to set up Leonard for the winning point. Albertin defeated Leo Sarria 6-3, 7-6 (5) in No. 2 singles and Elliott defeated Bryant Dudzik 7-5, 6-4 in No. 5 singles.
Leonard said as Ball State gears up for its match with No. 1 seed Buffalo today, a team it defeated 4-3 to end its regular season, how it deals with adversity will be key to victory.
Ball State's matchup with Buffalo begins at 10 a.m. at the UT Varsity Tennis Courts in Toledo, Ohio.
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