The road to its first conference victory does not get any easier as the Ball State University women's tennis team plays Mid-American Conference preseason favorite University at Buffalo today at 1 p.m. in New York.
The Bulls (6-4, 1-0 MAC), who collected a school-record 17 wins and lost to Western Michigan University in the MAC tournament final last season, shutout Northern Illinois University 7-0 Friday in their conference opener.
Ball State head coach Kathy Bull said her team expects to have its hands full.
"Buffalo is doing just about everything they are supposed to be doing," Bull said.
"They made a significant leap [in amount of scholarships] about four or five years ago, and they have utilized those scholarships really well."
Buffalo is led this season by freshman Diani Popescu and junior Smaranda Stan.
Popescu has a 16-4 combined singles and doubles record this season, including an 8-2 record at both No. 2, 3 singles and at No. 1 doubles. Stan, whose 16-5 combined record includes a 9-1 mark at No. 3 and 4 singles and a 7-4 record at all three doubles spots.
The Bulls, who own a 33-8 (13-3 MAC) record since the 2006 season, also return 2007 All-MAC second team selections Andreea Novaceanu and Denise Harijanto.
"[Buffalo] has done a great job [in recruiting] if you consider where they are located," Bull said. "Their coaches are making some really good decisions all-around, so I really respect that."
The Cardinals (7-5, 0-1 MAC) are coming off a 7-0 shutout against Miami University in their own conference opener Saturday. Bull said her team's impatience at times led to a not-so-successful end result.
"Miami is a good team that has good players and depth, but we just played a little tight," Bull said. "We just didn't have that desire, in a sense, on Saturday."
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