Weekend preview: Swim opens up season, cross country closes out regular season

<p>Sophomore Ben Andrew swims butterfly in the 400-yard medley relay during the meet against Grand Valley State on Nov. 18 in Lewellen Pool. <strong>Kaiti Sullivan, DN</strong></p>

Sophomore Ben Andrew swims butterfly in the 400-yard medley relay during the meet against Grand Valley State on Nov. 18 in Lewellen Pool. Kaiti Sullivan, DN

After two days off on Monday and Tuesday, Ball State Athletics is back in action. Here’s what is going on this weekend. 

Women’s Golf 

After eighth place finish two weeks ago, Ball State Women’s Golf will look to keep scores low at the Fall Preview in Noblesville, Indiana. Sophomore Liz Kim was once again the leading force for the Cardinals after finishing in the top 30 at the Diane Thomason Invitational. The Cardinals will compete against the top Mid-American Conference competitors in this 54 hole tournament hosted by Central Michigan.

“What we do now sets us up for the last two tournaments, which are back-to-back,” head coach Katherine Mowat said. “With it being Fall Break, we played and practiced a lot.”

The Cardinals will be teeing off Sunday morning and play will continue with the championship round on Monday. The Fall Preview will be held at the Purgatory Golf Course.

Contact Drew Pierce with any comments at Dlpierce2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @dpierce3cc

Soccer 

The Ball State Soccer (7-3-2, 3-1-0) picks action back up in a double-header at Briner Sports Complex this weekend facing Akron (4-8-2 MAC, 1-4-1) on Friday and Buffalo (9-4, MAC 3-3) on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Freshman forward, Tatiana Mason continues to lead the Cardinals with four goals herself, along with senior midfielder Paulo Guerrero leading the Cardinals with three assists. Senior goalkeeper Tristian Stuteville has allowed just .81 goals a game

The Zips are 3-4-1 in away games this season, and are six points behind the Cardinals in the MAC standings. The Zips average 1.43 goals a game, and have lost three of their last four games.

The Bulls average 2.31 goals a game, and average 1.30 goals conceded. The Bulls have scored 30 goals in just 13 games this season, led by senior forward, Carissima Cutrona tallying eight goals.

“We found some footing this past weekend,” head coach Roberts said. “We need to match their energy and what they bring to the game.”

The Cardinals will face the Zips at 4 p.m. Friday and the Bulls at 2 p.m. Sunday. 

Contact Tyler Pence with any comments at tapence@bsu.edu or on Twitter @tylerpencee

Cross Country 

This Friday, Ball State Cross Country will travel to the Jenna Strong Invitational in Wilmington, Ohio to run its final race before the Mid-American Conference meet.

This will be the second time the Cardinals have competed in the Jenna Strong Invitational. They first ran this race in 2013 and the team took 5th out of 34 teams. Junior Meliza Rodriguez is looking for similar results this time around as her team has been racing well this season.

“I’m hoping we will keep progressing. Every race we want to get a little bit better. No one is ever going to really run a perfect race. So we are just trying to get better and better and hopefully it shows at the end [of the race],” Rodriguez said.

In seeing a wider array of competition in this meet, the Cardinals are looking to stay competitive before the MAC Championship meet next weekend.  

“It should be a bigger meet than it’s been in the past with the amount of schools that are going, so it is always good to have competition,” head coach MacFarlane said.

The meet is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. 

Contact Olivia Adams with any comments at omadams@bsu.edu or on Twitter @olivia_adams5

Women’s Volleyball 

Heading into another weekend of MAC play, Ball State Women’s Volleyball swept the MAC West Player of the Week Awards with senior Ellie Dunn and juniors Amber Seaman and Kate Avila each taking home an honor.

“As a team, we’ve been pretty consistent and I think that shows,” Seaman said. “It has helped us to put up great numbers and it results in success, as well.”

With a 5-1 record in the MAC, the Cardinals will take on the Ohio Bobcats (8-11, 3-3 MAC) and the Kent State Golden Flashes (8-12, 1-5 MAC) this weekend. The Flashes rank at the bottom of the MAC East and the Bobcats sit at the third spot.

With the Cardinals on a four-game win streak, head coach Kelli Miller says that it’s a result of her players never being satisfied.

“They are willing to do whatever it takes to keep getting better,” Miller said. “They come into practice wanting to do more and wanting to get better. They come in knowing that we still have a long way to go and I couldn’t ask for anything more from them.”

Contact Gabi Glass with any comments at grglass@bsu.edu or on Twitter @gabiglass 

Field Hockey

Ball State Field Hockey (2-10, 2-1 MAC) returns to the road after two straight games at home to take on the Kent State (4-9, 2-1 MAC) and No. 9 Michigan (9-5, 5-1 Big Ten).

The Golden Flashes are amid a two-game win streak and hope to add a third. A Cardinal win in this matchup could turn the tide in the MAC and affect the upcoming tournament.

“Kent State knows that this is a huge game at this point, since we are both tied for second in the MAC rankings,” said head coach Stephanie Bernthal. “They are going to want to protect their own turf and make a statement on Friday.”

The Wolverines were recently defeated by No. 25 Stanford. They look to bounce back on Sunday against the Cardinals.

“Michigan is an awesome team with a lot of threats,” said Bernthal. “I expect a great game from them, they are very consistent and talented. It will be another great test for us.”

The Cardinals will face the Golden Flashes on Friday at 1 p.m. and travel to Michigan on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Contact Gavin Crafton with comments at gncrafton@bsu.edu or on Twitter @GavinCrafton

Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving 

After six months of practicing, Ball State Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving begin its new season at the Indiana Intercollegiate meet.

For both swim teams, head coach Jeremy Agnew has one goal: to compete.

“Men and women, we want to compete for Mid American Conference championships and move onto NCAA postseason,” Agnew said. “They’re hungry for success and they have been knocking it out in the classroom, but we want to see that same competitive fire in the pool.”

Two Cardinals to watch this weekend are juniors Rachell Bertram and Logan Ackley. Last season, Bertram and fellow junior Rachell Smallwood, competed at NCAA Diving Zones for the second straight year. Bertram finished 33rd on one-meter diving while Smallwood finished in 10th. 

“My expectations are to go to NCAA championships and so hopefully I can exceed those expectations,” Bertram said. “But they are definitely a lot higher than my first two years.”

Meanwhile on the men’s side, Ackley broke the school’s record in the 200-yard backstroke on the last day of MACs.

“He’s got great skills and he’s got a really good aerobic system for 200-yard backstroke,” Agnew said. “He’s kind of made for it. I’m excited to see what he can do this year.”

The competition begins at noon on Oct. 13 at West Lafayette, Indiana.

Contact Patrick Murphy with any comments at prmurphy2@bsu.edu or on Twitter @PMURPH505

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