All season head men's tennis coach Bill Richards has said the team's difficult schedule will benefit the Cardinals. In today's matchup of Mid-American Conference co-leaders against Bowling Green, the team's tough schedule might just be the deciding factor.
"Barring any circumstance," Richards said, "tomorrow is the game that decides the conference champ."
While the Falcons (15-10, 2-0 MAC) have not endured a long losing streak like Ball State's 10-game skid earlier in the season, Richards said that losing streak, and the lack of top-quality competition for the Falcons could give the Cardinals (10-12, 3-0).
"(Bowling Green) has played a good schedule," Richards said, "but we've played a great schedule.
Three weeks ago, Bowling Green cut its tennis program due to Title IX - a gender equality policy issued by the NCAA - declaring this season as the last for the program. Since the declaration, the Falcons have gone 6-2, playing as if they have something left to prove before being fizzled out of circulation.
"Given the fact that they have lost their program, they are playing for far different reasons," Richards said. "It's more like to spite the administration and prove they shouldn't have been cut."
Following a weekend in which the Cards played two of the team's best matches of the season, according to senior Jason Pressel, the team has gained a lot of much-needed confidence and momentum for the biggest match in the conference today.
Pressel himself is coming off an upset against Casey Smith of Notre Dame, a top-50 nationally-ranked player.
"It was important to get the wins to boost my confidence," Pressel said, "especially with how important this match is."
Nonetheless, the Falcons return all six of their top players from their MAC runner-up team from a year ago. Bowling Green has also added two new players who have replaced two of the former starters in a rotation that has not been the same two matches in a row all season, leaving Richards "wondering who will play whom."
"We are more than capable of winning every match," Richards said, "and we are capable of losing every match. I would be thoroughly surprised if the match is a blow-out."
Ball State enters one of the toughest environments in the MAC, as Bowling Green is known for its rowdy crowds. But Richards said all that does not matter come game time.
"(The conference race) comes down to one match," Richards said. "Everything else in the past doesn't matter, all the talk doesn't matter. It's just who can win now."
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