The results may not look great on paper, but the Ball State University men's tennis team is happy with its performance over the weekend in South Bend.
Ball State competed in the three-day Tom Fallon Invitational at the University of Notre Dame. The Cardinals competed against Purdue University, Western Michigan University and host Notre Dame.
Facing stiff competition with a young team, coach Bill Richards hoped to get an early evaluation of his team.-á
"It was a great weekend to evaluate the players," Richards said. "We're looking at the lineup considerations and seeing where everyone is now."-á-á
Perhaps the weekend's lone bright spot came in the form of Joe Epkey. Epkey, the Cardinals' lone senior, defeated two nationally ranked opponents in singles play.-á
"Singles-wise, I did good," Epkey said. "Hopefully I'll be able to get ranked."-á
The Cardinals began the weekend with a slow start against Notre Dame.
The Irish blanked Ball State 6-0. Though the team was unable to pull out a win, Richards was glad to see them be competitive.-á
"Notre Dame is certainly a top-ten team in the nation," Richards said. "The results were not very good, but no one did very good [against them]."-á
The Cardinals did not fare much better in the first day of doubles matches against Western Michigan. In the three matches, Ball State picked up a single win from the pair of Joe Vallee and Bret Berryman.-á
Saturday, Ball State saw improvement against conference rival Western Michigan. Joe Epkey, Jarrod Epkey, Tetta Oyama and Jose Perdomo were all victorious in their singles matches.-á
Western Michigan knocked Ball State out of the Mid-American Conference tournament last year and the Cardinals were happy to get the chance to compete with them so early in the season.
"It's quite a rivalry," Richards said. "This weekend we held our own. It's nice to see each other early on."-á
Against Purdue, doubles continued to struggle.
The Cards dropped two of three for a second straight day. Berryman teamed up with Jimmy Brannon to give Ball State its only victory on the afternoon.-á
"We definitely struggled in doubles," Joe Epkey said. "We have to try to get better at doubles."-á
The Cardinals have a great history in men's tennis, as they have won 19 Mid-American Conference championships.
Needless to say, this puts lots of pressure on the team.
However, this weekend they gained some valuable experience against tough competition. -á
"It's always a good experience to play tough competition,' Joe Epkey said.
"It makes players better when you're playing better competition."
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