After more than a week off, the Ball State men’s tennis team returns to action Wednesday as they host a pair of in-state teams. The double-header begins at 3 p.m. when the Cardinals take on IPFW and then continues at 7 p.m. against Indiana Tech.
The Cardinals last played on Feb. 10 when they defeated IUPUI 7-0.
In all four Cardinal victories this season, they have swept their opponents. They look to keep that streak alive with the help of Ray Leonard and Cliff Morrison.
Both players are set to make their return Wednesday after missing the weekend series with different injuries.
“The guys that have been injured are definitely making progress, not 100 percent yet, but I think both Ray and Cliff will see some playing time tomorrow,” coach Bill Richards said.
Richards said it is important to get them back on the court.
“I think tomorrow will help those guys get some play under their belt and help them prepare for Saturday,” Richards said. “When you haven’t been playing a lot, it’s hard to come right back out and be on top of your game, but you have to get going at some point in time.”
With nine days between games, Richards gave the team a few days off as they faced a tough stretch to start the spring season.
“The first couple of days were kind of a recovery mode after a busy first six weeks here, and then from there it’s been very individual,” Richards said. “Just looking at each individual and kind of assessing where they are at this stage in the season, and identifying individual needs more than anything.”
Richards hasn’t had his full squad healthy since mid-January and will have some key lineup decisions to make with Leonard and Morrison returning.
“We’re just going to see how everyone is tomorrow and make some decisions at that time,” Richards said. “We’ll definitely be splitting time, everybody’s going to play at least one singles and one doubles match and a majority of the guys will have to play everything.”
