Gymnastics seizes a conference victory in Ohio
Ball State Gymnastics finished second in Bowling Green and picked up another conference win on Friday.
Coming off a conference win at home last weekend, the Cardinals picked up another victory against Bowling Green on the road. Ball State ended the night with a score of 194.075 and Bowling Green finished with a total of 192.625. However, non-conference competitor Lindenwood took the cake with a score of 195.350.
The Cardinals broke a program record last weekend in the vault, and the momentum carried over to help the team win the vault with a score of 48.950. Freshmen Stefanie Schweikert and Marissa Nychyk lead the Cardinals by both tying for the individual first place with a score of 9.825.
"It was awesome for Marissa and Stefanie to finish the meet like that," head coach Joanna Saleem said. "We have some improvements to make but I loved how we stayed with the meet. I see that we're getting more comfortable on the competition floor."
Although the team’s performance was not enough to win the overall meet, it was big for the team to get another conference win under their belt.
"We have some good things going on," Saleem said. "It's a good win. It's hard to beat Bowling Green so it's good to get another conference win."
The Cardinals will be back in action at Worthen Arena next weekend to take on conference rival Northern Illinois.
Contact Drew Pierce with any comments at dlpierce2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @dpierce3cc
Women’s Golf drops first match of season to James Madison in annual Sunshine Invitational
The Cardinals fell to James Madison, the tournament champions, 4.5-1.5 in total points on the weekend.
“The team was fun to watch this week,” head coach Katherine Mowat said. “They showed no fear for our first event of the season. They are competitors and loved the format of match play. We were close to winning so many more matches and fought until the end, but came up short.”
The only whole-point earner for the Cardinals came from sophomore Emily Knouff who won her final hole to help her win a point for the Cardinals. The other half point came from sophomore Liz Kim.
Despite play having to stop early on Thursday night because of darkness, the Cardinals kicked off Friday’s play by continuing the postponed round.
The Cardinals played against three schools and lost all matchups. Ball State fell to Florida Atlantic 4-2, Saint Leo 6-0 and James Madison 4.5-1.5.
“We will continue to put in disciplined work at practice,” Mowat said. “Though we will still be indoors, we have concrete things to work on based on our tendencies, strengths and weaknesses from this past week.”
The Cardinals will continue the season in Arizona at the Rio Verde Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 22-24.
Contact Drew Pierce with any comments at dlpierce2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @dpierce3cc
Track and Field records eight personal bests at Kent State
Ball State Track and Field racked up 10 top-10 finishes at the Doug Raymond Qualifier at Kent State on Saturday.
A long day of competition on Saturday brought a few top finishes and eight personal bests for the indoor track and field team.
"It was another great weekend for our team," head coach Brian Etelman said. "We've hit a nice, consistent level of performance that has set us up perfectly to close out the next couple weeks with a strong showing at the MAC Championships."
Senior Peyton Stewart continued her strong season as she finished in second place in the 60m dash with a time of 7.50 tying her personal best. Right behind Stewart was junior Bryeana Byrdsong who finished in fourth with a time of 7.54.
Byrdsong also lead the Cardinals in the 200m dash with a time of 24.55. This time places her in second overall for the tournament.
Another strong performance in the 60m hurdles was headlined by senior Jazmin Smith with a time of 8.45. The finish placed her in third for the weekend.
"Now, we go back to work next week and start prepping to put a big stamp on what has been a great indoor season for us thus far," Etelman said.
Contact Drew Pierce with any comments at dlpierce2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @dpierce3cc
Men's Tennis can't find momentum against No. 11 Notre Dame
After defeating Xavier on Feb. 2 for its first win of the season, Ball State Men’s Tennis (1-3, 0-0 MAC) fell 7-0 Friday at No. 11 Notre Dame (8-1, 2-0 ACC).
Head coach Bill Richards said the Irish completely outplayed the Cardinals, and the match wasn’t a matter of his team’s play.
“[Notre Dame] had too many horses in the stable,” Richards said. “[Notre Dame] is No. 11 in the nation for a good reason, and they were just the stronger team. We’re playing really good tennis, but we’re just facing a very tough schedule.”
Notre Dame begun the match sweeping the Cardinals in doubles play. A three-set effort by senior Nemanja Guzina against junior Guillermo Cabrera of the Fighting Irish wasn’t enough to earn the Cardinals a win in singles play, as the Cardinals would fall, 5-0, in singles.
Sophomore Paul Gota was a driving force for the Irish, sweeping sophomore Thibault de Negri in singles with 6-1 wins in both sets. The match was the second of a straight doubleheader for Notre Dame, who defeated Boston College, 6-1, on Friday afternoon.
Richards said he is not worried about his team’s 1-3 record, but is continuing to evaluate each player’s strengths and weaknesses. The Cardinals do not return to Muncie until March 8, with four road matches until the Pacific Coast Doubles tournament from March 1-3.
“It’s different with every player,” Richards said. “We have eight guys, so obviously our focus is on each player and trying to focus on what each needs to do better. We’re very excited for the rest of the season.”
Contact Connor Smith with any comments at cnsmith@bsu.edu or on Twitter @cnsmithbsu
Women's Tennis improves to 4-1 in win over Eastern Illinois
Ball State Women’s Tennis won its third consecutive match against the Eastern Illinois Panthers with a 5-2 final score on Saturday afternoon at the Muncie YMCA Tennis Center.
The Cardinals had control of this matchup throughout after winning 2 of 3 in doubles play to conclude the victory. No. 2 duo of senior Audrey Berger and junior Rebecca Herrington won against EIU junior Shelby Anderson and sophomore Karla Contreras with a 6-2 match score.
“I was proud of our ability to keep up the momentum today following the past few successful matches we’ve had against Youngstown and Northern Kentucky,” head coach Max Norris said.
In the No. 3 doubles match seniors Isabelle Dohanics and Peyton Gollhofer won a close one 4-3 in their match against senior Abby Carpenter and sophomore,Claire Martin of Eastern Illinois.
Cardinals found success in singles play as well. Sophomores Lilya Hadab and Victoria Sec separated themselves with wins in their sets. Hadab won 6-3, 6-3 and Sec won 6-2, 6-0. Herrington came close to a sweep in her sets winning 6-1, 6-0. Berger was able to bring the weekend win home for the team with a pair of 6-3, 6-1 set wins.
“I think we played well and hard and it showed today with the team coming in with a positive atmosphere the whole time,” said Herrington.
The team will try to make it 4 consecutive wins when they travel to Pittsburgh to take on t Saint Francis next Friday at 7 PM.
Contact Dorian Ducre with any comments at dkducre@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @DucreDorian
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