After junior Jose Perdomo lost his first match against Marquette University's Niko Boulieris on Friday at the Milwaukee Classic, Cardinal coach Bill Richards challenged Perdomo to step up his game.
That turned out to be all the inspiration Perdomo needed.
"I challenged him to come back against Wichita State and DePaul, and he met my challenge," Richard said.
Sophomore Bret Barryman, juniors Jimmy Brannon and Perdomo and senior Danny Vidal had at least one win in the second match of the season. The Cardinals went a combined 13 out of 20 in singles play during the three-day tournament. Richards said the upperclassmen lead Ball State through a pack of tough competition this week.
Freshmen Eduardo Pavia and Shaun Bussert both lost two single matches at Milwaukee. Last weekend, Pavia and Bussert went undefeated and won the single competitions at the Ball State Fall Invitational singles.
"It's a little tougher for the freshman with a dual match system like the one we faced," said Richards. "They played alright, but wins aren't easy against this kind of competition."
In the first two days at the Milwaukee Classic, Ball State lost four of six double matches. The doubles combination of Pavia and Rodriguez was the only winning partnership during the first two days of competition.
Day three proved better for Ball State. After sweeping Wichita State to close out the tournament, Pavia and Rodriguez won the Men's Doubles Championship. Despite the win, Richards said he feels doubles are the weak point of the Cardinals' team.
"Fundamentally we made a lot of errors in doubles, between first volley errors, missing shots, not thinking well and our execution was weak," Richards said. "We have a lot to do still on doubles."
In addition to going undefeated with Pavia in doubles play, Rodriguez didn't lose a game in singles play during the three days.
"Upperclassmen set an example. We stand up and support the team, but really everyone on the team supports everyone else," Rodriguez said.
After starting the season with two strong showings, Richards said he likes where his team is heading.
"I believe steady progress has been made; there has been a lot of individual progress," he said. "Some guys are close to where they need to be, while other guys still have a lot of work to do."
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