As the only seniors on the Ball State University women's tennis team, Jennifer Pollack and Haly Calderwood have had a knack for transferring their classroom success onto the tennis courts.
This fact was apparent in the Cardinals' 6-1 victory against visiting Northern Illinois University on Saturday - a senior day that featured Pollack and Calderwood both winning in their final home singles matches.
Calderwood won 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 2 singles spot against the Huskies' Lilian Asujae, while Pollack fought back from a loss in the first set at the No. 3 spot to win 4-6, 6-0, 6-3.
"Winning that singles match felt great - I don't think I realized until after the match just how much it meant to me," said Calderwood, a two-time Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-Academic Team and 2007 Academic All-MAC selection who owns a 3.86 GPA. "To walk away with a win like that with the whole team behind me was a very special moment."
Pollack, who maintains a 3.98 GPA according to the Ball State athletics Web site, is a three-time ITA All-Academic Team and 2007 Academic All-MAC selection and was named an ITA All-America Scholar Athlete in 2006.
"It's very admiral - to do what they do at the level that they do it with the level of commitment that they put into tennis and academics, they're both just very good at time management and discipline," head coach Kathy Bull said. "They just get the delicate balance between the two and they just understand when they have to clamp down and they get it done. They make it look relatively easy, too."
Calderwood said balancing schoolwork and athletics comes naturally.
"Luckily it's not something that I find terribly hard to do," she said. "The amount of time and effort that goes into my tennis here is demanding, but of course I'm always willing to give 100 percent."
Bull said Saturday's match was especially important to Pollack and Calderwood, but also to junior Emma Retter, who was playing her final home match for Ball State due to her early graduation upcoming in May. Retter and partner Katherine Rist were the one doubles winners for the Cardinals (9-10, 2-5 MAC) at the No. 3 spot with an 8-5 victory, and Retter would go on to win 6-1, 6-1 at the No. 4 singles spot. Retter was also a 2007 ITA All-Academic Team selection.
"It ended up being a perfect day that everybody got to experience some success and we honored the seniors with some flowers at the end of the day," Bull said. "For me, the best thing was that I could give all three of them their last home victory, so that was a good feeling for me."
The match did not appear to be headed in such jubilant fashion after Northern Illinois (3-13, 1-7 MAC) captured the doubles point to begin the match. Pollack and Calderwood lost 8-6 at the No. 1 spot and sophomore Sophie Quist and freshman Georgina Thomson lost 8-2 at the No. 2 position.
Down 0-1 in the match, Bull said her team's will to fight in singles play was impressive.
"The doubles was frustrating again, but when our backs were against the wall, to watch all six of our [singles] players - because I was hustling over to all six courts - I was really, really impressed to watch everybody dig in and do what they needed to do," Bull said. "They stayed patient and calm and they kind of weathered through a couple things. It was from top to bottom - all six players played some of their best tennis on the same day and we've been waiting for that particular day, and that was awesome."
Calderwood said Saturday's win was important towards gaining some momentum into Thursday's Mid-American Conference Tournament action in Buffalo, NY.
"It meant a lot to the whole team, not just because it was the last match but it determined what our positioning was going to be in the tournament," Calderwood said. "The fact that it was at home and everyone was able to give a fantastic effort in singles and come out successful was just amazing."
Bull said the ending of her team's five-match losing streak could not have come at a better time.
"We needed that win for a lot of different reasons," Bull said. "It was really a welcome sigh of relief I think, so it's just what we needed on that day at home before we head north back to Buffalo."
Seeding for the 2008 MAC tournament begins on Tuesday, and the opening round begins on Thursday.
SinglesNo. 1 Sophie Quist (BSU) def. Nao Umemura (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Haly Calderwood (BSU) def. Lilian Asujae (NIU), 6-4, 6-3
No. 3 Jennifer Pollack (BSU) def. Kathryn Friedlund (NIU), 4-6, 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 Emma Retter (BSU) def. Brooke Forsberg (NIU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Hayley Hall (BSU) def. Jenny Edner (NIU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 6 Georgina Thomson (BSU) def. Dora Delgadillo (NIU), 6-3, 6-3
DoublesNo. 1 Nao Umemura/Brooke Forsberg (NIU) def. Haly Calderwood/Jennifer Pollack (BSU), 8-6
No. 2 Lilian Asujae/Kathryn Friedlund (NIU) def. Sophie Quist/Georgina Thomson (BSU), 8-2
No. 3 Emma Retter/Katherine Rist (BSU) def. Dora Deigadillo/Jenny Edner (NIU), 8-5
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