The gymnastics team will have the chance to accomplish something it has yet to do all season -- win consecutive meets.
The problem is that Ball State faces two-time defending Mid-American Conference champion Central Michigan. The Cardinals take on the No. 14 Chippewas today at 7 p.m. in Irving Gym.
Ball State (3-12, 1-3 MAC) is coming off its first dual-meet win of the season. The team notched a season-high score of 192.200 at Eastern Michigan for its first conference victory.
The Cards will also be without Jenna Tarkington. The sophomore will miss the rest of the season after injuring her elbow while warming on up on bars at West Virginia two weeks ago. She has torn ligaments in the elbow and will be in a sling for six weeks.
As a freshman last year, Tarkington was one of the team's top all-arounders and was named to the First Team All-MAC.
"Jenna is out for the season, so that definitely hurts," head coach Mary Roth said. "When you've coached as long as I have, you learn how to deal with it."
The Cards will have senior Kelli Davis returning to all-around after only competing in two events at Eastern Michigan. Davis has led the team in all-around three times this season.
Central (9-3, 4-0 MAC) is coming off a big win at Kent State. The Chippewas registered a season-high score of 196.050 in the meet and are the only undefeated team in conference play.
"I expect them to be very good," Roth said. "But I'm hoping we will be better than last week."
Although the team scored above a 192 for the first time last week, Roth said the team could have done better and expects such results against Central.
"We have four more meets left to improve," she said. "I really would like us to score that or a little better if we can."
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