The tough matches keep coming for the Ball State men's tennis team.
After three matches last week, including the first loss of the season on Sunday to Northwestern, the Cardinals (2-1) will try to get back to their winning ways on Saturday against the University of Michigan.
Michigan enters the contest ranked No. 48. They will be playing a season-opening double-header as they face Western Michigan earlier in the day before playing the Cardinals. This will be the second of three straight Big Ten opponents for the Cardinals and the highest ranked of the trio.
Head coach Bill Richards said practice this week was a mixture of preparing for their upcoming contest against Michigan and putting the strain of last week behind them.
"Last week was so demanding physically with three matches. We had to make sure we're sharp and ready to go but recovered enough from that tough first week," Richards said.
Richards said that a victory against Michigan will help to erase the loss to Northwestern, but it will not come easily.
"With it being on the road, it will be a big challenge and we're going to have to play better than we did against Northwestern to put ourselves in position to have a chance to get the 'W'," Richards said.
Senior Patrick Thompson, who is ranked No. 4 in the nation in doubles along with fellow senior Matt Baccarani, said the team will have to continue to stay positive and fight against adversity.
"It will be a very tough match," Thompson said. "In tennis you definitely have to have short-term memories."
Match time for the Cardinals is set for 6 p.m. at the Varsity Tennis Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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