Ball State opens its Mid-American Conference competition thisweekend in back-to-back dual meets.
The Cardinals, who placed second at the 2004 IndianaIntercollegiate last Saturday, will be host to Akron tonight at 6p.m. and to Buffalo tomorrow at 1 p.m.
On Akron's side, sophomore Danielle Beland and the rest of theZips hope to avenge their 160-140 defeat to Ball State last year.Last week, Beland won two events in Akron's 197-46 win againstWayne State. She dominated the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing 17seconds in front of the runner-up.
"Beland is definitely going to be a problem," co-coach LauraSiebold-Caudill said. "She is probably the best swimmer on theirteam. She is a great distance swimmer, and our girls are going tohave to do their best to make sure we give her a challenge."
Akron's biggest strengths against the Cards are its middle anddistance swimming, as well as diving. Ball State's best offensewill be the breaststroke, sprints, freestyle, and relays.
Three years ago, Ball State defeated Buffalo 150-149, beatingthem by .01 seconds. A year later, the Cards downed thestill-bitter Bulls once again, 182-118. However, last season,Buffalo finally broke through, defeating BSU 192-108.
"This matchup is becoming a very spirited competition more andmore every year," Siebold-Caudill said. "I think we left a real badtaste in their mouths when we beat them by such a small margin afew years ago. However, they had their revenge in a big way lastyear, so we have to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Last week, the undefeated Bulls pulled off a 154-146 victoryafter trailing 111-96 with five events left. With the help of topswimmers Kahla Walkinshaw, Tracy Hoover and two victories byJennefer Brankovsky, Buffalo won four of the last five events.including a sweep of the 3-meter diving event.
Like Ball State, Buffalo will have competed the night before."The fatigue will definitely be there for our girls,"Siebold-Caudill said. "However, they are coming to our house, andwe swim much better here."
"It is going to take every person on this team giving everythingthey have to get over these two teams this weekend."
Co-coach Bob Thomas also has faith that the team is ready tobattle two very competitive teams back-to-back this weekend. "Thisweekend is very important to us, because it is our first timeseeing the MAC this season. This weekend, we will see how our girlsmatch up to a couple of really good MAC contenders."
"They are both very good teams," Siebold-Caudill said. "They arevery strong, very deep, and both teams have a lot of wonderfulswimmers. However, we have some really good swimmers, too.
"It all depends on how much these girls want to win thesemeets."
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