The Ball State University men's tennis team will find out how they measure up against one of the best teams in the country this weekend.
The Cardinals (2-2) will be traveling to Champaign, Ill., for a match against the University of Illinois on Saturday. Illinois comes into the contest ranked No. 4 in the nation. The No. 68 Cardinals, meanwhile, will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak.
Head Coach Bill Richards said he wants his team to improve individually.
"We don't think about wins and losses. We think about what we have to do to play well," Richards said.
One of the areas in which the Cardinals would like to see improvement is how they start their matches. Falling behind early in contests has made it difficult for the Cardinals to get victories.
"We have to try to put all the pieces together," senior Patrick Thompson said. "Every guy has to get into their match."
Richards said he did not push the team as hard as he should have in practice last week. But this week of practice went better.
The Cardinals are hoping the good week will carry over to Saturday and perhaps Illinois, who will be facing No. 1 Virginia on Sunday, will take them lightly.
"Hopefully they will be looking past us," Richards said.
For the Cardinals to stay competitive, they will have to rely on senior Matt Baccarani to continue his impressive play. Baccarani was selected as the Mid-American Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week last Thursday. This is the seventh time in his career that he was earned the award. Together, he and Thompson form the No. 4 doubles pair in the nation.
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