The No. 69 Ball State men's tennis team will be playing two tough in-state matches this weekend.
Today, the Cardinals (7-3) travel to Purdue (4-2), which comes into the contest ranked No. 71. The Boilermakers are coming off two straight defeats at the hands of Notre Dame and Western Michigan.
On Sunday, the Cardinals will be in Bloomington to face the No. 60 Indiana Hoosiers. Likewise, the Hoosiers are 4-2 on the year after having lost their previous two contests. Last year, Ball State was able to defeat both IU and Purdue in Muncie.
Coach Bill Richards said this weekend will be difficult for his team but believes they will do just fine.
"It'll test our toughness. We beat both teams here at home last year. I don't think that teams in the Big Ten enjoy losing to Mid-American Conference opponents," Richards said. "We definitely feel we need to win both of these matches. We feel from a personnel standpoint that we match up well."
Richards also emphasized the importance of being able to defeat ranked opponents.
The last ranked opponent the Cardinals faced was No. 75 Michigan St. on February 8, which the Cardinals defeated 4-3.
"You have to beat ranked opponents to make noise," Richards said. "It's all about beating ranked opponents," Senior Patrick Thompson knows the Cardinals' two matches this weekend are important.
"We have two big opportunities," Thompson said. "It's going to be tough but I think we can get it done. I think we're better than Purdue and IU, but on the road you never know. We're going to have to stay positive and fight through it."
Earlier this week, Ball State was picked by the conference's coaches to finish first in the Mid-American Conference. The Cardinals received 34 points, just ahead of Western Michigan, who received 32 points. Both teams earned three votes to win the MAC tournament. The MAC regular season starts on February 24.
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