It's not every day that a team is optimistic when it is playing four teams in six days. Yet, the men's tennis team is just that as they face four teams in a variety of circumstances in the coming days.
After trouncing Toledo and nearly upsetting then-No. 36 Notre Dame last weekend, the Cardinals will return to action today when the Cardinals host Wright State. At 1 p.m. today, the Raiders (2-16) come into Muncie to face the Cardinals (6-11 1-0 in the Mid-American Conference).
"It's an attitude match," coach Bill Richards said. "We have to make sure we get the job done, play hard and move on."
The Raiders are coming off of two 7-0 losses, and also have a 7-0 loss to Toledo whom the Cardinals beat last weekend. Still, Richards thinks the match is important.
"This starts a four-match stretch here. We play four matches in six days, and make sure we're motivated here and get on a little win steak to help us continue to build momentum."
In a season where the Cardinals have lost 11 matches to ranked opponents, Wright State has been the exception, not the standard.
"I think this is one of those matches, they're not the same caliber team we've played form most of the year, and we just have to make sure we don't have a letdown," Richards said. "We need to make sure our players are ready to play and play hard."
After the Cardinals had what is arguably one of their best performances of the season last weekend, Richards said that matches like Wright State can help, but even without a loss, it can hurt a team.
"I think we need to try and build on (last weekend), keep getting up, not just in our level of play but also our confidence," he said. "When you play teams you're supposed to beat and things don't go as planned and you struggle, (the matches) can turn from positives to negatives, and we want to make sure that doesn't happen."
The Cardinals will move onto IPFW and Buffalo, two MAC opponents, before traveling to Terre Haute on Tuesday to take on Indiana State in their final non-conference match of the season.
Matt Baccarani also comes in on a hot streak. He went 4-0 last weekend and beat nationally ranked Luis Haddock in the process. Yesterday he was named MAC Tennis Player of the week.
"(Matt's) very deserving of it, beat two quality opponents in singles, especially Haddock at Notre Dame, a player who is very highly regarded player here, and has been for a while," Richards said. "To beat a top player at an excellent program like that, it shows not only where he's at now, but also what his future holds.
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