Ball State might have defeated Wright State 7-0, but the final score did not represent how hard Wednesday's match was. The Cardinals (2-1) took about three hours and 30 minutes to defeat the Raiders (0-4) at the YMCA Tennis Center.
"I'll give Wright State a lot of credit because, especially for a couple times, they could have stepped back a little bit, and they didn't," coach Kathy Bull said. "They gave us a little bit tougher match than we were ready for."
The match began with a couple of easy doubles matches. Jessica Thompson and Katie Owens defeated Jessica Lee and Audra Beckett 8-2, while Haly Calderwood and Jennifer Pollack took care of Christa Ames and Megan Laux, also by an 8-2 count, to wrap up the doubles point.
The top doubles spot didn't go as easily, foreshadowing the rest of the match. Jenny Batty and Stephanie Farrar squeaked out a 9-8 (7-2) win over Tiffini Foster and Laura Culbertson.
"[Farrar]'s possibly the best doubles player we have, as a freshman, which is kind of unheard of," Bull said. "She handles herself on the court well."
In singles, Farrar continued her winning streak, winning both sets 6-0 over Jennifer Bagby.
"She's just got what I call a pretty mature game," Bull said. "She thinks her way through things. She's a very coachable young person. She just gets the job done.
"She was well coached as a junior player, and she sees things on the court that other players don't see and gets the ball there."
Owens was the second to finish up, and the only other Cardinal to win quickly. Owens took care of Ames 6-1, 6-0. The front courts, meanwhile, fought it out.
Jessica Thompson started off well, winning her first set 6-1. Her second set took much longer and ended 7-5.
Meanwhile, Batty and Calderwood had already split sets and, because the score was only 3-0, Batty and Calderwood were forced to play a third set rather than a supertiebreaker, which ended up extending the playing time significantly
Pollack ended up clinching the match for the Cardinals a few minutes later with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Beckett. Thompson's 6-1, 7-5 win gave the Cardinals a 5-0 lead and left Batty and Calderwood on the court.
Batty wrapped up No. 1 singles, earning a hard-fought 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Foster. Calderwood took a little bit longer, finishing up for the Cardinals with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Beckett.
"I was really, really proud," Bull said. "I think conditioning held up. We held our composure really well. I think that it's those close matches that really build good tennis players."
The Cardinals will finish up their string of five matches in eight days on Saturday when they play host Dayton and IPFW.
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