After a tough loss against Michigan State over the weekend, the Ball State men’s tennis team took a few days off to recover and set their minds straight.
The Cardinals won’t be able to let the loss linger for long as they prepare for their first outdoor matches of the Spring Season.
“We need to make sure were moving forward, you don’t ever want to look back at a loss and have that remain as something in your head,” assistant coach Jarrod Epkey said. “It’s supposed to motivate you to push you forward, if it holds you back, it holds the rest of the team back.”
The team got back to its regular practice routine on Wednesday and will practice throughout the weekend.
“Practice-wise, were not going to make any changes or do anything necessarily differently,” Epkey said. “[We’ll] focus individually on the guys but keep our team focused on what we need to do to stay motivated for those matches out there.”
The Cardinals travel to Las Vegas on Monday to play three outdoor matches in three days. With the current weather in Muncie, the team hasn’t been able to get any outdoor practice.
“It’s the hardest transition, going outdoors from playing indoors, it’s difficult; wind factor, weather conditions, that’s the tough challenge about the sport,” Epkey said.
Junior Austin Smith couldn’t agree more.
“Conditions in Vegas are a lot different, it get’s a lot windier, the elevation is a big factor in tennis. It’s hard to prepare living in the Midwest for playing an outside tournament since we’ve been inside for the last 3 months,” Smith said.
Smith has won his last five singles matches and nine out his last ten. He credits coach Bill Richards for motivating him to come through in clutch situations.
“We have a really good team this year and nothing to show for it and I’ve been using that as motivation in my matches,” Smith said.
For Smith, staying focused is key as the team is facing their longest stretch between matches this season.
“It’s especially important when you don’t have matches for a long time to make sure that your doing all the right things, going into the training room, stretching, doing things that you don’t realize are really beneficial in match situations,” Smith said.
After landing in Las Vegas the Cardinals will have two days of practice to knock off the rust and get acclimated to the weather conditions before facing UNLV on March 7.
MARG:
Austin Smith last five matches:
Vs. IUPUI W – 6-2, 6-0
Vs. IPFW W – 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
Vs. Indiana Tech W – 6-0, 6-0
Vs. Michigan State W – 4-6. 6-2. 10-6
Vs. Anderson W – 6-1, 6-0
