Two seniors on the Ball State women's tennis team might not have taken the same route to get where they are today, but they're both enjoying success on and off the court.
Susan Kelley and Melissa Roach have been the anchors for the women's tennis team this season. They have closed out the season especially strong to help the team get the No. 5 seed for the Mid-American Conference Championship.-á
Roach has won four of her last five matches to end the season with a 21-12 (4-5 Mid-American Conference) record at the No. 1 spot for the Cardinals this year. Kelley has won two of her last four, with the other two being close losses, to finish the season with a 16-14 (5-4 MAC) record at the No. 6 spot.
"These two young women have really taken different routes to become who they are today," head coach Kathy Bull said. "You have to step back and admire what they're doing and how they do it and get the job done."
Roach, who came here from England, has been playing tennis since she was 10 years old and has played the No. 1 spot for Ball State for three years, something she considers one of her biggest achievements.-á
"She's really held the No. 1 spot and done extremely well out there," Bull said. "She handles pressure probably as well as anybody I've had in my 16 years here at Ball State."
Kelley, unlike Roach, was unable to get a lot of experience her first two seasons, but has continued to grow throughout her final two years, especially during this fall.
"The neat thing about her was that she was persistent and hung in there and never complained," Bull said. "When she started to get opportunities she started to make something happen with them.
"A lot of young people nowadays would just kind of quit and go by the way side, but she's got a lot of stick-to-it-ness I guess you could call it."
With Roach and Kelley anchoring the No. 1 and No. 6 spots, the team has two seniors they can look to and see how each became successful in a different way.-á-á
"I watch the young people look at them and they see those kind of strengths," Bull said. "They've always seen Melissa be strong, but they've watched Susan get stronger with time and experience; I think that's something they can relate to and they can say, 'I can be that kind of person.'"
Kelley and Roach both hope they have been able to help the underclassmen on the team grow, just like they were helped when they were freshman.
"You're pretty much clueless [as a freshman] and upperclassmen are there and you have an instant eight friends on the team and they just pretty much show you the ropes," Kelley said. "It's really helpful as a freshman, so I hope we helped the freshman out."
If it weren't for the help Roach received, she might not be here today.
"I think if it were eight freshman coming in together, oh my God, I think I would have been on the next plane back to England," Roach said. "I really do, I honestly genuinely do because [the upperclassmen] taught me really well."
Both players have not been taught to be strong only on the court, but off as well. Both were named to the MAC Academic Honor Roll in 2002 and 2003 and Kelley has been an ITA All-American Scholar-Athlete those years as well.-á
"I've grown a lot, not just as a tennis player but as a person as well and that's thanks to everything we do," Roach said.
"We [complain] about getting up three times a week at six in the morning, but it's worth it," Roach said. "It makes us stronger people, it really does."
Bull respects both Roach's and Kelley's route to success and also recognizes how much they have grown.
"They're just a really solid example of what a division-one athlete needs to be," Bull said.
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