In the 24-year history of Ball State women's tennis, the Cardinals have finished with a winning record in the Mid-American Conference just five times. The team has a chance to make it six tomorrow when it faces Bowling Green.
The Falcons (9-12, 3-5 in the MAC) come into Muncie on a five-game losing streak, including four losses in their only four home MAC matches of the season. Still, coach Kathy Bull doesn't expect the Cards
(10-8, 4-4 in the MAC) to have an easy time.
"Well, you know for the last five, six, seven years this has been a classic battle," Bull said. "The matchup is always very close and tight. We know we have a battle on our hands Saturday."
A win against Bowling Green means the Cardinals would end the season as high as fifth in the MAC, depending on the performance of Northern Illinois.
"We know we control our own destiny, so to speak," Bull said. "We're in our own driver's seat. It's our seniors' last day on the home court, and we need to pick ourselves up from last weekend and move on."
The Cardinals are coming off a tough weekend where they lost 6-1 decisions to Marshall and Miami. Only seniors Melissa Roach and Susan Kelley came close to winning last weekend.
"They've taken different routes to get to this point in their career today, and I respect both ways," Bull said. "In the last month I think both seniors have stepped up. They've taken leadership roles, taken their own game up another notch. I can't say enough about our two seniors. They really have stepped it up."
While the Cards have struggled at the end of the season, it's not from a lack of trying. In fact, it may be the opposite.
"If anything right now, we're a team that's trying too hard," Bull said. "We're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves."
After a history of dogfights, the Cardinals are looking for any advantage over Bowling Green they can find.
"I think there are two things we have to bring to the table: strong, positive emotion and physical game," she said. "On Saturday, I'm not sure which one is going to be important, but it's going to be one of those two. We have a saying on our team, 'Leave it all out on the court,' which means when you walk off the court at the end of the day, let the chips fall where they may, we did our best. And that's what I told my team they have to do: Bring it all and leave it all out on the court."
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