MAC Tournament schedule
Friday:
10 a.m. – No. 4 Akron vs. No. 5 Buffalo
2 p.m. – No. 3 Western Michigan vs. No. 6 Toledo
Saturday:
10 a.m. – No. 1 Ball State vs. No. 4 / No. 5
2 p.m. – No. 2 Miami vs. No. 3 / No. 6
Sunday:
12 p.m. – championship
In the nine seasons before Max Norris became Ball State's women's tennis coach, the Cardinals had only seen two winning seasons. Through this stretch, women’s tennis held a record of 82-119, winning 17 Mid-American Conference matches.
Since Norris joined the coaching staff, Ball State has gone 53-18, beating its conference opponents 19 times in 27 matches. With Norris, the Cardinals have also accomplished two goals the program had never met. He said the key has been finding players who buy into his system.
“If you get the right people who believe in what you’re teaching and the way you’re teaching, they see the results and they see the other people around them believing in it,” he said. “I think that goes a long way.”
On April 23, Ball State beat Toledo 6-1, clinching its first ever MAC regular season title. This win was Ball State’s 20th of the year, a school record.
Norris said the entire team has relied on one another to find success.
“It’s been different people from different times,” he said. “We had a team vote in the fall, and the players voted Toni Ormond and Carmen Blanco as captains. But Bethany Moore, who’s a senior, while she wasn’t a captain, has done a really good job of finding her way and finding her role.”
At the start of the 2016 campaign, the Cardinals were projected to finish fourth in the MAC. Miami was projected to win its eighth title in a row.
Even though the Cardinals won 20 matches, the conference came down to the wire. Ball State (7-1 MAC) tied in the standings with Miami, but the Cardinals earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament because of its 4-3 head-to-head victory over Miami.
Norris said the match served as revenge for the Cardinals after Miami knocked off Ball State in the conference tournament final last year.
Ball State will enter the tournament with a bye to the semifinals. The Cardinals will play their first match on April 30 against the winner of April 29's first match between No. 4 Akron and No. 5 Buffalo.
The women’s tennis team has tried its best to take every match one at a time, but Norris said he is looking forward to the tournament.
“It first starts with Buffalo and Akron, and if we’re fortunate enough to be in the final and Miami’s there, we’re going to need to be ready,” Norris said. “They’re not going to give us anything, and they’re going to think that the title’s theirs because they’ve won it a lot in the past.”
Read More
Man who self-immolated outside Manhattan courthouse where Trump trial is adjourned pronounced dead
By Staff Reports / 1 hours agoAzzarello was initially extinguished and rushed away by emergency services. He was in critical condition at Weill Cornell Medicine - Burn Center, according to a press conference held by the New York Police Department (NYPD).
‘The program is still alive:’ Wapahani baseball defeats Alexandria on Raiders’ special night
By Zach Carter / 11 hours agoAfter having multiple ceremonies before the game, Wapahani baseball defeated Alexandria 4-2. Raiders' starting pitcher Kayson Perdue threw a complete game with six strikeouts.
The closure of the historic Mark III Tap Room impacts Muncie’s LGBTQ+ community.
By Meghan Holt / 22 hours agoPatrons of the oldest gay bar in Indiana reflect on how it affected their lives.
