The men's swimming and diving team will be without sophomore Ryan Plantz this Saturday when it hosts Wright State University.
The injury to Plantz leaves junior Fred Hill as the only diver able to compete in the upcoming meet, putting a strain on the rest of the team.
"People are going to have to step up if we want a (win)," head coach Bob Thomas said.
Plantz injured his back during practice, and according to Thomas, it was due to the "wear and tear" of the season. Thomas said he knew how long the injury would sideline Plantz, but declined to comment when asked for a specific returning date for the diver.
Thomas sees his team as a five-point underdog going into the meet, but with a healthy team, the meet would be a different story, he said.
Thomas said the team has been doing more "race pace" work in the two weeks since its last meet at Michigan State.
"(Race pace) is swimming at the speed you are going to swim at in your races at the conference meet, which is the fastest you can swim for those given distances," Thomas said. "There are certain sets that you do that develop that ability, but you cannot do it very often because it is so fatiguing."
Wright State enters Muncie with a 2-6 record on the season. The Raiders' most recent loss came at Miami by one point. Wright State also lost to Western Kentucky 144-98 in mid-January. A healthy Ball state squad fell to WKU by four points in late November.
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