After falling to Indiana 7-0 last weekend, the Ball State men's tennis team is looking to prove that it is a better team. The first chance is this weekend in East Lansing against Michigan State.
"We need to go from playing our worst match of the year to our best match of the year if we are going to put ourselves in a position to win," coach Bill Richards said. "We've had a big turnaround from last Saturday in practice. I think we'll play better against Michigan State."
Richards' optimism is not without urgency. After returning from No. 47 Michigan State, the Cards will leave later in the week for Texas for the HEB Collegiate Team Championship.
"We'll have a quick turnaround; we leave for Texas early in the morning Wednesday," Richards said. "The big (reason) for doing that is playing outdoors."
While the Cardinals may be able to play outdoors before the event, Richards said that this gives them a chance to practice in Texas if the weather in Muncie is disruptive.
Still, this weekend is important to the Cardinals.
"I think our players all know what they need to do to get back to playing the way we were earlier in the year," Richards said. "We stubbed our toe against Indiana. I think that we need to show that's not the team we really are."
Michigan State is 9-2 after falling to then-No. 51 Brown last weekend. The Spartans are coached by BSU graduate Gene Orlando. Orlando played tennis at Ball State under Richards, who says that the history makes things a little different this weekend.
"It's a little different," he said. "I don't think either one of us -- we don't enjoy competing against each other. But we're two good teams in the Midwest, so we have to play each other."
Orlando was a member of the 1984-1987 MAC Championship teams. He also won two MAC singles championships and and a MAC doubles championship during his tenure at Ball State. Orlando amassed 91 singles victories at Ball State, putting him ninth all-time for Ball State.
"Gene was a big part of building our program here; Gene is like family," Richards said. "It's awfully hard playing against family. He was my assistant for a year. We're about as close as anyone can be."
Still, Richards says that all of that is forgotten once the match begins.
"Once the match gets started, you go about your job," Richards said. "It's different going against someone you're not as close to. I know that he has Ball State still in him. He still roots to us to an extreme when he's not playing us, and I want his program to be successful as well."
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