MEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Preseason opens with alumni match
Ball State University's men's volleyball team opens its pre-season schedule with the annual alumni match this Sunday.
The match gives the 2005 team an opportunity to catch up with several of their former teammates.
"Some of the guys that have graduated recently know almost all the [current] guys," coach Joel Walton said.
The match doesn't go against the team's number of games allowed to play, but only one alumni match can be played.
Eleven alumni are expected to play, including former First Team All-American Paul Fasshauer and Second Team All-American Keith Schunzel and former all-Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association members Kyle Weindel, Mark Lau and current assistant coach Kevin Furnish.
"There may still be a few additions," Walton said. "Any of our other alumni who want to come in are welcome."
The Cardinals just began practicing and the alumni match gives the coaches an opportunity to see where the Cardinals stand.
"Guys want to prove that this year's team is going to be a strong team," he said.
MEN'S TENNIS
Doubles team advances in tourney
Two members from the Ball State University's men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the ITA All-American Doubles Tournament on Thursday.
The No. 15 ranked duo of senior Matt Baccarani and senior Patrick Thompson won 8-4 over No. 12 Zach Ganger and Miron Mann of the University of Utah.
Baccarani and Thompson will play Middle Tennessee's No. 8 Brandon Allan and Kai Schledorn today's quarterfinal round. Allan and Schledorn defeated Illinois' Kevin Anderson and Ryler DeHeart 8-5 on Thursday.
Baccarani and Thompson have been successful together in the past. They put together a 30-6 overall record last year. Baccarani and Thompson defeated DeHeart and GD Jones 9-8 last season when the duo were ranked fourth in the nation.
The winner of today's match will play the winner of Memphis' Alex Jago and James Spence and Ohio State's Scott Green and Ross Wilson on Saturday.
WOMEN'S TENNIS
Cards only MAC team in invitational
The Ball State University women's tennis team will compete this weekend in the 2005 Middle Tennessee State Invitational in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The tournament will be comprised of nine schools, with over half of the teams being from the state of Tennessee - Belmont University, Middle Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT-Chattanooga and UT-Martin.
The other schools not from Tennessee competing in the invitational are Ball State, Jacksonville State, Alabama-Birmingham and Western Kentucky. The Cardinals will be the only school from the Mid-American Conference to partake in the invitational.
"It is a good, out-of-region tournament to play in," Kathy Bull, head coach said. "Each school has a couple of good individuals and should be very competitive."
With the talent deep in this invitational, the goal for Ball State is to just simply be playing on Sunday, the tournament's final day.
"Our goal is to go deep in this tournament and to have a couple players playing in final matches," Bull said.
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