In the match against Butler Thursday, the Ball State women’s tennis team cleaned house with a 7-0 sweep to improve the team's record to 6-1.
Only four Butler players played due to unforeseen circumstances and injuries, according to Butler coach Tayo Bailey said. The team was missing their No. 2, No. 3 and No. 5 singles players for an indefinite amount of time. Bailey's expectations for her team in the match was to play its best and put up fight.
Because of Butler's lack of players, not everyone played for Ball State.
Freshman Bethany Moore played at No. 2 doubles with junior Kristel Sanders, winning 8-0. In singles play against Kristen Haeberlin, Moore put the Cardinals in the lead 2-0.
“The freshmen have been contributing but the whole team rose to the challenge, and came out of their element,” coach Christine Bader said.
Freshman Courtney Earnest won at No. 2 singles with a 6-1, 6-1 score. After dropping a set in her match, she knew refocusing would be key to winning.
“Don’t let them gain momentum, [just] get back in it," Earnest said. "We played smart. We’re used to grinding it out.”
Sophomore Courtney Wild, Earnest’s doubles partner, won her match at No. 1 singles against Stephanie McgLoughline.
“I had to fight hard for the second set because you only play 10 points,” Wild said.
The match against Butler was dedicated to Cancer Awareness and the team wore “V for Victory" shirts that were sold to fans for 15 dollars after the match. The players were inspired to dedicate two matches to cancer this season, one to breast cancer and another to colon cancer. All of the shirt sales will be donated to colon cancer research.
Ball State will face a challenge as its next seven matches are on the road. But Bader said she feels her team will have an advantage to playing on the road.
“Fitness," Bader said. "We do a lot of on and off the court fitness, and confidence; [the] mentality to overcome."
Of the seven matches on the road, the schedule includes IPFW, Indiana and Cleveland State before the teem begins Mid-American Conference play.
